Fortuyn was killed by an environmental activist shortly before the elections and would have turned 75 on Sunday. Eerdmans will seek support for his plan from universities and if funding fails, he will consider crowdfunding.
Eerdmans was a candidate for the Pim Fortuyn List in 2002. After Fortuyn’s death, the LPF became the second largest party in one fell swoop with 26 seats in parliament and Eerdmans entered parliament. As a student, Eerdmans himself took lessons from the politician, who was also a professor on a special assignment at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the field of working conditions. Eerdmans says he has had the idea for a chair for a long time and that Fortuyn’s birthday is a good occasion to start this campaign. “Even his family is in agreement with the initiative,” said the lawmaker.
Problems
The current JA21 politician believes the issues Fortuyn highlighted at the time are still relevant 21 years after his death. “It’s a shame his analysis of this faded into politics in The Hague.” Eerdmans emphasizes that “it’s not about agreeing or having to agree with him, but about the way he saw society and politics.” According to him, his ideas are much broader than his criticism of Islamism, for which Fortuyn has been reviled by many. He thinks that lectures on this topic could be “interesting and instructive” for, for example, future politicians, officials and administrators.
The parliamentarian still does not know who should be the professor and in which university the chair should come. Eerdmans himself thinks of Leiden or Rotterdam. According to him, the costs for one chair amount to around 1.5 tons per year.