The student umbrella associations will be losing their regular seat in the new system of the participational bodies. As student party V.O.S., the associations hope to claim a spot on this year’s University Student Council the democratic way.

They had something of a false start last year: a little over a month after Verenigd Onder Studentenbelang (V.O.S.) signed up for the student council elections, they had to cancel their plans.

After the dissolution of asap last year, it seemed as though AKKU (formerly AKKUraatd) was set to be the only remaining party in the election. To give students at least some choice, the umbrella organisations would not just take up their appointed seats in the University Student Council (USC), but also compete for electable seats under the name V.O.S. This setup was endorsed by both the Executive Board and AKKUraatd. That is, until Green+, de Knokpartij, and later ISEC also submitted candidates – at which point, V.O.S. was barred from competing.

Disappointing

‘That was disappointing’, Derk Wijkamp reflects. Wijkamp is one of the co-founders of the party, who wants to represent the active student. ‘We had finished our programme, we had finished our electoral list, and we had prepared our campaign.’ But on the other hand, Wijkamp states that this year was to be a transition year – the idea was that V.O.S. would take up some elected seats, as well as some appointed ones. ‘Our plan was to compete wholeheartedly in 2024.’

What followed was a year with a lot of behind-the-scenes work on the articles of association, laying the foundations for the party. Meanwhile, the USC worked to revamp the participatory bodies -in part at the request of V.O.S. They were successful: at the upcoming elections, the USC will have not eight, but fourteen seats up for election.

‘Higher turnout will improve the democratic nature of the elections’

This also means that the umbrella associations can no longer count on their usual six seats, but rather that they must compete for a spot. V.O.S. is not worried, however. ‘Who says we’ll stop at six seats?’ Wijkamp says with a wink. ‘We have more than enough people who want to join the USC. Our goal is to get as many seats as possible.’

Constituents

Fellow party member Bente Huntjens knows that their votes will mostly be coming from their constituents. ‘We keep in close communication with the associations under our umbrella. While we focus on active students, we also represent general student interests. We appeal to those outside our constituency; that is why we campaign – the same as the other parties.’

Earlier, USC chair Jasmijn de Groot was hopeful that the new system would help to improve voter turnout; last year’s reached an all-time low. ‘Yes, that would indeed be nice’, Huntjens agrees. Higher turnout will improve the democratic nature of the elections.’

‘Our profile is less activist than that of the other parties’

In any case, students are spoilt for choice. ISEC, Green+, AKKU, and de Knokpartij will all be participating in the elections. How does V.O.S. differentiate itself? Their programme rests on four pillars: student board members; facilities for associations; an active, valuable student life; and a vibrant campus.

Wijkamp: ‘We mainly represent the association life and those students who want to do more than just study. In that sense, our profile is less activist than that of the other parties.’