(2002-05-16) b

In the wake of Pim Fortuyn's murder, Lance Knobel posts an essay by Tjebbe van Tijen. Bundling of loose parts implies the use of a binding element, and little coherence could be found in the diverse assembly of many of those local parties. Also the initiators of the new 'Leefbaar Nederland' party did not sufficiently manage to formulate a coherent party philosophy or program, so they started looking for a leader, like in the old days a new nation was looking for a king to help forcing a diverse population into a unified state. Soon a king was found and crowned in the person of a columnist and commentator on Dutch social and economical affairs, a former professor of sociology at the University of Groningen, an coming out homosexual, and a provocative public debater: Pim Fortuyn.