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Editorial: The Netherlands General Election: What to expect
from The Voice magazine
The Netherlands General Election: What to expect
On 17th March 2021, The Netherlands goes to the ballot box for regular elections for the House of Representatives to decide which direction the country would be govern. In this editorial, we want to take a look at how politics are played here in an organized manner that no one loses his or her life in the process and not even much violence associated with the elections. In fact if you are not a smart observant, you may miss out of the whole election process. Of course things has drastically changed with the corona crisis as many campaigns are done digitally and less political gatherings however the polls are more reliable as projections can be taken seriously. To stand with, on 15 January 2021, the Dutch government collapsed and stepped down because of the so-called “day-care allowance affair”, in which the government unjustly treated thousands of households as fraudulent. However the government continued as a caretaker government,- a system the Dutch are very used to and are experts in managing it and it is that mode the country goes into another elections. So what is expected at the polls? Looking at recent polls as a given - and outline the positions of the political parties most relevant for the next coalition for the next four-year term, there is no dramatic change in Dutch politics. The Dutch political landscape is likely to remain scattered, with 14 parties polling for at least one seat in the lower house and six parties with a medium number of seats partner may remain so in the coming government.. Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD remains the party with by far the most support of the electorate, polling between 41 and 45 of a total 150 seats. It might actually grow substantially compared to its current 32 seats. This combined with a small loss of support for coalition partners D66 and CDA and a minor gain for ChristenUnie provides ample room for the current government to win another term and form the next government. It is not so complex to understand the Dutch politics; they look for alternatives and right now the other political parties do not offer such difference for them to do away with the VVD led coalition government of Mark Rutte. The challenging parties like CDA, D66 and PvdA all recently chose new political leaders with no experience in election debates despite the fall of the ruling party government, VVD, it continues as a caretaker government and the polls show no significant shift in support for coalition parties as a consequence so far. As it stands, it could be expected that the VVD will take the new initiative to form a new coalition government with at least three parties. Besides the current centre-right VVD-CDA-D66ChristenUnie coalition, a similar VVD-CDA-D66 coalition and centre-left government of VVD-CDA-GroenLinks-PvdA are among the most evident options. The current lack of a Senate majority for all these options is not likely to be seen as an insurmountable hurdle. Current coalition partners have 81 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, 76 seats required for absolute majority. The breakdown is as follows: Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh VVD-43, CDA-18, D^^-14 and Editor-in-Chief CU-6. Few changes is expected but whatever happens the VVD is still the party of majority choice in The Netherlands. Of course this election is different, the first under corona crisis period where there are several frustrations particularly among the young people and increasing number of voters in this coming election. Would it affect the government? The Dutch still runs such traditional parties that may not bring huge regime change. Nevertheless, the Dutch mood specifically regarding quick domestic austerity seems to have changed compare to the previous crisis period: a focus on long-run sustainability seems more likely than a push for short-term debt reduction. Meanwhile, there is also a lot of support for more public investment. A new development is that there are new political parties trying to break this tradition and at least gain one or two seats in the parliament, it is parties based on colour inequality, sexism, minority interest and not too long ago, the Dutch Party for the Animals gained few seats in parliament from 2 seats to 5 seats so nothing is impossible at this elections. To the European Union and the rest of the world, they are kin to follow the Dutch election, the next government is expected to remain in favour of conditionality and sanction capabilities in return for solidarity. Opinions about the necessity to change the European Stability and Growth Pact differ among the coalition candidates. The election manifestos of the parties that are most likely to join the government suggest that radical steps away from European projects such as leaving the European Monetary Union or the European Union seem very unlikely. Our final appeal is to ask the minority groups like the Africans to continue to participate in the electoral process and get involved, few are on the list of the big political parties and who knows if they vote, they could just surprise the book makers. We wish the Dutch a successful election.
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From this month, March 2021, a new wonderful initiative of our media partner in Holland, Vice Versa magazine under the Editor-in-Chief, Marc Broere will unveil a new project - Vice Versa Global platform. Next to the regular magazine and their website, Vice Versa Global will provide Young African journalists a platform to publish videos and articles on their website. Vice Versa Global is a platform spearheaded by young journalists from the Global South, creating socially conscious content through vlogs, columns, video, articles and discussions in order to share ideas and spark dialogue about social change. The first episode would be out 1st march 2021. Follow the links via YouTube and Facebook to watch and enjoy the compilations of African journalists. It is going to be an amazing show right here on their YouTube Channel, ViceVersa Global. https://youtube.com/channel/ UCa8qkYuWpz6kComRi3ChjEA According to the Editor-in-Chief, Marc Broere, the era of white Dutch journalist with a photographer heading to Africa to report about Africa is long over, now Africans can tell their own stories and we provide the medium for them to be seen and read globally. Subscribe and follow this new great platform for young African journalists and it would expand beyond Uganda and Kenya as it is right now to many more African countries. Congratulations to Vice Versa Global.
Vinaida Sno appeals for your vote on 17th March at parliamentary elections in The Netherlands
The Netherlands election: Let your vote count and for change Working on that dream…
My name is Vinaida Sno and I’m candidate NO 2number on the list of the political party Ubuntu Connected Front that is running for seats in the Second Chamber elections in the Netherlands on 17th March 2021. My dad is partly black and white and a Native Indian from the Amazon. My mom is a beautiful black woman with an Island background. Both born in Suriname, and so was I. Growing up in a country where there is a subtle form of segregation, I wasn’t seen as black because of my skin tone. Now in the Netherlands all that people see is black but my DNA tells the real story. The result of my own DNA test showed that I was 79,1% African (Nigerian, Kenyan and Sierra Leon). I now refer to myself as an African woman born in Suriname, living in the Netherlands. In daily life I’m a primary school teacher. What inspired me to become a teacher was the way my 2nd grade teacher interacted with me and the other students. She didn’t care
who was rich or who was poor. She didn’t see race, all she saw was her student. She treated everyone equally. She showed me the true meaning of being fair to everyone. That is why I’m so driven to fight for equality. Everyone deserves the right to be seen for who they truly are. Not their race or the colour of their skin. Politics came to my door at a very young age. In Suriname I joined a political party and was active in their youth group. Ten years ago I migrated to the Netherlands and once
again politics landed at my doorstep. I joined a political party for the second time and I participated in the municipal elections. We didn’t acquired any seats and for a number of years I focused on being a teacher. Even though teaching is my passion, politics has always been in my heart because I believe I can make a change. A good friend had the Ubuntu story on her status in July last year and I was inspired to inquire about the story behind the philosophy. This story has always been in the back of my mind and once again politics came knocking when another party contacted me. The name of the party is what immediately caught my interest because it reminded me of the Ubuntu philosophy. The party named Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF). UCF is one of the youngest political party in the Netherlands and they are for a dignified Netherlands because equality is a human right and not privilege. UCF choose Ubuntuism as a basic principle for conducting politics. A philosophy where the “we” perspective of others is essential to be human. Others are not seen as a threat but as an enrichment for personal growth and the increase of the possibilities to perform successfully. Even before I heard about the Ubuntu philosophy and this parties story, I lived my live by these same principles. Always living with the concept of everyone moving ahead together, pushing each other up instead of tearing each other down. Also being happy for anyone’s success and helping them to achieve their goals in order to help them to live their best life. With the upcoming elections I want to fight for equal rights for people of colour. Institutional racism had its way, way too long. It’s time that we, people of color, can finally experience the enjoyment of human rights as it is written in the Convention on Human Rights. So to my fellow sisters and brothers I say together we can make the change by voting and get our own (people of color) in the Second Chamber. Your vote has a lot of power, because the moment we get into the political arena we can make laws that includes our own people. Being of African descent and participating on the highest level in a country was once a dream of dr. Martin Luther King. I ask you to help me make this dream become reality in The Netherlands. We can change where we stand as a
race. If one can dream it, one can do it!!
