At the start of the year , Melkert and the VVD leader Hans Dijkstal appeared to be the frontrunners in the race to become Prime Minister . The situation changed with the arrival of the controversial politician Pim Fortuyn . Fortuyn was a critic of Islam and had questioned whether its culture was compatible with Western society even before the September 11 attacks . He was elected the leader of Liveable Netherlands in November 2001 , but he was expelled from the party after making controversial comments in an interview with De Volkskrant on 9 February 2002 . Fortuyn had described Islam as a " backward culture " , criticizing its attitude to homosexuality ( he himself was openly gay ) . Part of the reason for the uproar was that the Dutch word for " backward " ( '' achterlijk '' ) can also be used in an insulting sense ( with a similar meaning to the word " retarded " ) ; Fortuyn stated he used the word in the former sense . Two days later , he formed his own party , the Pim Fortuyn List ( LPF ) in order to contest to the upcoming general election , while maintaining the leadership over the local Livable Rotterdam party
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
2002 Dutch general election