Dutch Polls Shun Anti-Immigration Tune

"Now integration is not so prominent in people's heads," Peter Kanne of polling institute TNS NIPO told Reuters on Wednesday, November15 .

"People have understood that they have to live together and they don't want this aggressive tone anymore...so this election has shifted more to economic and social themes," he added.

Millions of voters will cast ballot in the country's general elections on November22 .

Opinion polls show that the two main parties, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's center-right Christian Democrats and the Labour Party which share identical views on integration, are running a close race.

Immigration and integration have taken a central stage in the Netherlands since the killing of anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn.

Fortuyn was gunned down by an animal rights activist just days before the 2002 general elections and mainstream parties have since adopted many of his ideas, such as demanding that immigrants take language and citizenship tests.

The hostile tone has taken another notch following the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh over an anti-Islam film.

The murder was vehemently condemned by Muslim leaders in the country, who said Muslims should respond astutely to anti-Islam campaigns.

Shift

The public fatigue with the hoary-old and the economic priorities are seen as accelerating the shifting focus away from immigration and integration.

"I am sick of hearing about it," said Stefan Boot, a student.

Surveys show the Dutch are more worried about their wallets than the state of their multicultural social model.

The shift has also been triggered by fears of losing immigrant votes in a country where 10 percent of the 16 -million population are have non-Western roots.

Tough new integration laws have also deprived a splintered far-right of its traditional rhetoric on the subject.

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