Student party asap is quitting. The party itself announced it this afternoon during the participation council meeting and on Instagram. It had been difficult to recruit enough members for several years. The pandemic gave the death blow.

On 11 October, student party asap will be officially dissolved. That is what asap chair Mark de Jong announced this afternoon during the participation council meeting of Radboud University. Meanwhile the party has also posted a statement on Instagram.

On the phone, chair De Jong calls the decision to quit the result of a ‘gradual process’. Back in the summer of 2020, the then members of asap were already considering whether to continue or not. ‘Indeed, it had been difficult for several years to find enough members and participational bodies are not popular with students’, says De Jong. ‘The pandemic accelerated that process.’

No new election campaign

That is why the board and members of asap are now calling it quits. During a party meeting last week, it was voted unanimously to dissolve the party. Asap will no longer participate in a new election campaign in the spring. ‘Preparations for the student elections take months’, says De Jong. ‘You should pretty much get started right now. But we do not have enough people for that.’

‘We will continue with the current group until the end of the year’

The four asap members in the University Student Council will finish the current participation year. ‘Of course I am very sorry that we have to quit’, said De Jong. ‘With the current group, we will continue until the end of the year with the same ideas and ideals. I hope those will continue to exist even after the disappearance of asap.’

AKKUraatd: ‘Great loss’

Members of student group AKKUraatd are surprised by asap’s decision. ‘We experience this as a great loss for the participation council’, says chair Noah Vetter. ‘For democracy at the university, it is important to have multiple student groups. We will definitely engage with asap members and political commissioners to find solutions for the future of the participational bodies.’

‘During elections, a bit of competition is always fun’

At student group AKKUraatd, they are going to miss their colleagues from asap in any case, Vetter let it be noted. ‘During elections, a bit of competition is always fun. Besides, it would not be good if all eight seats in the university council went to us. At the same time, this is a clear signal that the university does not sufficiently support the participational bodies while student participation is essential. Hopefully, together with the university, we can make the participational bodies more attractive to students again.’