ABSTRACT
On 5 January 2009, Ahmed Aboutaleb was installed as mayor of Rotterdam – the first mayor of the Netherlands with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, and also the first Muslim mayor of a large West-European city. His appointment was controversial. Rotterdam is not only the city that has the largest proportion of immigrants of any Dutch city; it is also the place where Pim Fortuyn gained firm support for his populist right-wing party, Livable Rotterdam (cf. Burke 2009). At present, seven years after Fortuyn was murdered, Livable Rotterdam is the second largest party in the city council. When Aboutaleb was appointed as a mayor, the leader of Livable Rotterdam said this was unacceptable for his party. Aboutaleb’s two passports were seen as a sign of dual loyalty. After Aboutaleb’s installation, Livable Rotterdam therefore gave the new mayor a stamped envelope addressed to the king of Morocco, so he could send his Moroccan passport back to where it belonged.
