ROTTERDAM, 02/03/02 - Jim Janssen van Raay will in all likelihood become an MP on behalf of the List of Pim Fortuyn party. The experienced lawyer, who will be 70 in a few months, confirmed his candidacy on Friday, saying he would probably be third on the list of candidates.

Janssen van Raay was secretary of the CHU, one of the forerunners of the present Christian democratic (CDA) party, and a member of the European Parliament for 18 years. A seat in the Lower House did not really fit in with his plans for the future. "But I am doing this for Pim. He is a godsend to politics and will bring back democracy. "

Janssen van Raay can sympathize with Fortuyn's statement about the abolition of article 1 of the constitution, which forbids discrimination. "Every lawyer in the Netherlands knows that this article is meaningless. " The two men seem to have similar views on Islam as well. "Fortuyn considers Islam to be a stupid religion, and so do I. "

De Telegraaf newspaper reported a second candidate on Friday, Tjeerd Sleeswijk Visser. He was head of the marine intelligence service Marid for many years, and then head of security at Philips. Fortuyn is expected to present the list of names in mid-March.