Dutch general election, 2002

Dutch general election, 2002

1998 ← May 15, 2002 → 2003

All 150 seats to the House of Representatives 76 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Jan Peter Balkenende Pim Fortuyn (Assassinated) Hans Dijkstal Party CDA LPF VVD Leader since 2001 2002 1998 Last election 29 seats, 18,3% First Election 38 seats, 24,7% Seats won 43 26 24 Seat change +14 +26 -14 Popular vote 2.653.723 1.614.801 1.466.722 Percentage 27,9% 17,0% 15,5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ad Melkert Paul Rosenmöller Jan Marijnissen Party PvdA GL SP Leader since 2001 1994 1988 Last election 45 seats, 29,0% 11 seats, 7,3% 5 seats, 3.5% Seats won 23 10 9 Seat change −22 -1 +4 Popular vote 1.436.023 660.692 560.447 Percentage 15,1% 7.0% 5,9%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Thom de Graaf Kars Veling Bas van der Vlies Party D66 CU SGP Leader since 1998 2001 1986 Last election 14 seats, 9,0% 5 seats, 3,3% 3 seats, 1,8% Seats won 7 4 2 Seat change -7 -1 -1 Popular vote 484,317 240,953 163.562 Percentage 5.1% 2.5% 1,7%

Seats

Prime Minister before election Wim Kok PvdA Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende CDA

The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 15, 2002.

The election was arguably the most dramatic in Dutch history, not just in terms of the electoral results. It was completely overshadowed by the assassination of politician Pim Fortuyn only nine days before election day. Fortuyn's party made a huge leap from nothing to 17% of the seats, making it the second largest party. Fortuyn had especially attacked immigration policies and also questioned many aspects of government by the previous 'purple' cabinets (Paars) of Wim Kok, which he blamed for everything from crime to waiting lists in health services.

Result

The great losers of the election were Labour Party, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Democrats 66, the coalition parties of the 'purple' cabinets. Especially the Labour Party under the technocratic leadership of Ad Melkert suffered a landslide defeat.

The Christian Democratic Appeal was the surprising winner of the election, gaining 14 seats (from 29 to 43) and becoming the largest party in the House of Representatives. This success is in part owed to its new leader Jan Peter Balkenende, who went on to become prime minister, and to its neutral attitude in the debate with Fortuyn, not having participated in the supposed ‘demonization’ by the political Left.

Another party making its debut in the House of Representatives was Livable Netherlands.

The 15 May 2002 election was the beginning of a year of political chaos in the Netherlands following the LPF leader's assassination on 6 May the same year. The power vacuum resulted in violent internal conflicts in LPF, which eventually led to the fall of the first Balkenende cabinet (CDA-LPF-VVD), which governed from 22 July 2002 to 16 October 2002. The CDA once again became a coalition party after eight years in opposition (1994-2002) in a government which, however, became the shortest-ruling Dutch cabinet since the Second World War, lasting less than five months.

National summary

Turnout: 79.1%

Party	Lijsttrekker	Votes	%	Seats	difference
Christian Democratic Appeal	Jan Peter Balkenende	2,653,723	27.9	43	+ 14
Pim Fortuyn List	Pim Fortuyn	1,614,801	17.0	26	+ 26
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	Hans Dijkstal	1,466,722	15.4	24	- 14
Labour Party	Ad Melkert	1,436,023	15.1	23	- 22
GreenLeft	Paul Rosenmöller	660,692	7.0	10	- 1
Socialist Party	Jan Marijnissen	560,447	5.9	9	+ 4
Democrats 66	Thom de Graaf	484,317	5.1	7	- 7
ChristianUnion	Kars Veling	240,953	2.5	4	- 1
Reformed Political Party	Bas van der Vlies	163,562	1.7	2	- 1
Livable Netherlands	Fred Teeven	153,055	1.6	2	+ 2
Total		9,501,152	100.0	150

Only parties that won seats in parliament are shown in the above table.

Parties

• Christian Democratic Appeal (Christen-Democratisch Appèl)
• Christian Union (ChristenUnie), merger of Reformatorian Political Federation and Reformed Political Alliance
• Democrats 66 (Democraten 66)
• Green Left (GroenLinks)
• Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid)
• Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn)
• Livable Netherlands (Leefbaar Nederland)
• People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie)
• Political Reformed Party (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij)
• Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij)

Further reading

• Van Holsteyn, Joop J. M.; and Galen A. Irwin (April 2003). "Never a dull moment: Pim Fortuyn and the Dutch parliamentary election of 2002". West European Politics 26 (2): 41–86. doi:10.1080/01402380512331341101. 

External resources

• NSD: European Election Database - Netherlands publishes regional level election data (NUTS 1-3); allows for comparisons of election results, 1994-2010

References

Netherlands

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Netherlands

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