THE NETHERLANDS: Under normal circumstances, a general election in the Netherlands would generate about as much enthusiasm as a minor earth tremor in one of the more remote republics of the former Soviet Union. And for much the same reasons - no-one will be affected by it and it has no consequence or repercussion for the outside world.
But last week's murder of the flamboyant, far-right populist leader, Pim Fortuyn, has radically changed all that.
So, for once, when the 12 million Dutch voters go to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new government, they will do so in the full glare of international curiosity. But there are, crucially, two issues at stake in Wednesday's election.
Firstly, can the flood of emotion over Mr Fortuyn's death be channelled by his now rudderless and directionless party into votes? And secondly, does whatever support the party musters stem from a rising tide of far-right sentiment in an erstwhile ultra-liberal democracy and a dissatisfaction with traditional consensus politics or is it symptomatic of a new wave of xenophobia washing across Europe?
Neither question can seriously be addressed until the votes are in and counted, but the one certainty is that the late Mr Fontuyn's shadow looms large over the poll.
Once a Marxist sympathiser, the 54-year-old moved sharply to the right and made no secret of his homosexuality and dislike of immigrants - most of all Muslims, after a Muslim cleric in Rotterdam said gays were lower than pigs.
He proved too right-wing for the party he joined, Liveable Netherlands, and was forced out, despite his popularity in Rotterdam, where the party gained a third of seats on the local council.
When the general election was called in April after the Labour Party Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, bowed to pressure and criticism of his government in an official report on the government's handling of the crisis in the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica, it suddenly seemed that the political landscape was about to undergo a radical change.
Mr Fortuyn, now heading his own party list on the national stage, was expected to win a considerable share of the vote, possibly even finishing with more than any other single party and thus holding the balance of power.
In the last government, Mr Kok's Labour Party held the whip-hand and is credited with bringing stability and promoting economic growth, with the support of the Liberals and centre-left Social Liberals.
With Mr Kok standing down and his place at the Labour helm taken by the dour Mr Ad Melkert, the party was already looking less attractive to the electorate and there was an expected revival in the fortunes of the Christian Democrats.
Taken in conjunction with the seismic shift which Mr Fortuyn's killing has brought about, a new right-wing coalition certainly cannot be ruled out when the polls close on Wednesday evening and the horse-trading over who is to form a government begins in earnest.