Editing Pim Fortuyn List (section)

===First Balkenende cabinet (2002–2003)===
The LPF decided to maintain Fortuyn's posthumous candidacy, and delayed naming a new leader until after the election.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1076Ro0W0MC&pg=PA45|page=45|first=Ron|last=Eyerman|title=The assassination of Theo Van Gogh: from social drama to cultural trauma|year=2008|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-4406-3}}</ref> The [[2002 Dutch general election|2002 general election]] proved a great success for the LPF, yielding 17% of the votes and 26 seats in the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]—by far a record number of seats in the Netherlands for a new party—to become the second largest party. LN also made it into Parliament, with two seats. The [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] (PvdA) and [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD) saw their largest-ever losses, while the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] (CDA) won large gains – later attributed in part to the fact that CDA leader [[Jan Peter Balkenende]] had remained neutral and not joined in attacking Fortuyn with other party leaders during debates.<ref name=rvh48/> Balkenende had earlier announced that his party would follow a tougher line towards asylum seekers and tighten some of the Netherlands's immigration policies, and he later agreed with much of Fortuyn's criticism of the [[Purple (government)#The Netherlands and Belgium|purple coalition]] and Holland's [[multiculturalism|multicultural society]]. Some commentators claimed that the CDA was able to draw in voters who otherwise would have supported the LPF (but felt it was no longer viable without Fortuyn in charge) or that the CDA was seen as a stabilizing force after a tense election.<ref name=rvh46/><ref name=sheg>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ6x8zmRAaEC&pg=PA166|first1=Steven|last1=Van Hecke|first2=Emmanuel|last2=Gerard|title=Christian democratic parties in Europe since the end of the Cold War|year=2004|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=978-90-5867-377-0|page=166}}</ref> As leader of the strongest party, Balkenende became the leading candidate for prime minister.<ref name=rvh48/>

Following the election, journalist and former civil servant [[Mat Herben]] was appointed Fortuyn's successor as LPF party leader in May 2002 while newly elected LPF representatives [[João Varela (politician)|João Varela]] and [[Ferry Hoogendijk]] became the party's vice-chairmen. Businessman and personal friend of Fortuyn {{interlanguage link|Peter Langendam|nl}} was appointed chairman by the LPF parliamentary faction and faced the difficult task of shaping the party organization without Fortuyn.

Together with the CDA and the VVD, the LPF formed part of the governing coalition, and supplied several members for the [[Netherlands cabinet Balkenende-1|Balkenende cabinet]]. The party was granted four of fourteen cabinet seats, for immigration, economics, environment, health and sports, and five state secretaries. LPF member [[Eduard Bomhoff]] was appointed deputy prime minister.<ref name=ti1>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/far-right-gets-immigration-post-in-new-dutch-cabinet-648087.html |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100302120013/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/far%2Dright%2Dgets%2Dimmigration%2Dpost%2Din%2Dnew%2Ddutch%2Dcabinet%2D648087.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 2, 2010 |title=Far right gets immigration post in new Dutch cabinet |work=[[The Independent]]|date=12 July 2002 |access-date=28 March 2011 | first=Terri | last=Judd}}</ref> The following day after the cabinet's formation, LPF [[State Secretary (Netherlands)|State Secretary]] for Social Affairs and Work Opportunity [[Philomena Bijlhout]] resigned after it was reported that she had been a member of a [[Suriname]]se militia group.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2146966.stm "Dutch minister resigns within hours"], ''BBC News'' (Tuesday, 23 July 2002)</ref> She was replaced by fellow LPF MP [[Khee Liang Phoa]].

Without its original leader and lack of a clearly defined organisational structure and political experience among its members, the LPF also succumbed to highly public internal squabbles. MPs within the LPF resigned to sit as independents due to the infighting and the intense media storm following Fortuyn's death or unsuccessfully tried founding splinter parties of their own to contest in the next election. In August 2002, Herben resigned as leader due to the unrest and was briefly replaced by [[Harry Wijnschenk]]. However, arguments within the party continued after Wijnschenk was accused of dictatorial behaviour by other faction members which eventually led to the departure of LPF MPs [[Winny de Jong]] and [[Cor Eberhard]]. Wijnschenk was subsequently ousted from his position and replaced by Herben again, but by October&nbsp;2002, the break-up of the government coalition was ultimately triggered by the bickering of LPF Ministers [[Eduard Bomhoff]] and [[Herman Heinsbroek]] who did not get along on a personal level. Although the VVD had suggested that the LPF could replace Bomhoff and Heinsbroek in the cabinet, Bomhoff warned that the other parties would use the opportunity to call a new election. Ultimately, the cabinet fell and a fresh election was called.<ref name=ms>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7y5W8svwh0C&pg=PA115|pages=115–116|first=Menno|last=Spiering|title=Euroscepticism: party politics, national identity and European integration|year=2005|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-90-420-1946-1}}</ref>