Marco Pastors - Local Politics

Local Politics

Pastors started his political career in January 2002 when his formed boss Fortuyn was elected leader of Leefbaar Rotterdam. He was given the responsibility for infrastructure and housing as an alderman and he focused on improving living conditions in some of the Rotterdam slum areas. He introduced measures which allowed tenants to buy their house and also introduced legislation banning prospective residents without a proper income or job prospects given the high unemployment and poverty in some residential area's. Some of these initiatives (called the Rotterdam Wet) were supported by national politicians.

Pastors was critical of the proliferation of mosques, the erection of minarets and was opposed to practises associated with new immigrants with a Muslim background such as honor killings, polygamy, forced marriage and suppression of women. On a regular basis he was challenged for making denigrating remarks at the expense of the Muslim minority and left-wing politicians which he perceived as politically correct.

A denigrating remark regarding immigration and the political party Groen Links in the beginning of 2005 resulted in Pastors colliding with the city council and he was forced to further refrain from public comments on immigration and integration. In October 2005 he again collided with the city council when he commented in a Catholic newspaper that Muslims abused their religion when justifying some of their actions. As a result the city council forced him out as an Alderman on 8 November 2005. In the 2006 municipal elections in Rotterdam Leefbaar Rotterdam polled about a third of the vote, but lost 3 of their 17 seats and the Pastors-led party therefore moved to the opposition benches.