Extra seat for VeSte in student council

Photo: Remo Wormmeester | Candidates anxiously wait while the results are shared.

In the student council of the coming academic year VeSte will receive eight seats, Sustainability & Internationalization (S&I) three and the Christian Student Party (CSF) one. The turnout of the elections was 39,6 percent higher than the 35 percent of the past two years.

Karijn Hendriks, head of the VeSte party is ‘really happy’ with the result. ‘We have done everything for it and worked really hard. During the campaign we promoted ourselves throughout the whole day, from 7 to 9 o’clock.’ Hendriks believes that the main reason for the higher turnout is because of the increased visibility of the campaign; especially in Forum the student parties were prominently visible in the past week.

This is a blow

Wiard Ligterink, student party member on behalf of CSF

Especially for CSF the result is a disappointment. ‘This is a blow’, says Wiard Ligterink, council member for CSF in the current student council. ‘One seat, that does not make you happy.’ He suspects that a Christian party such as the CSF has stable and loyal supporters, but appeals to few students outside of this. By the growing student population and the higher turnout this ‘natural’ group of supporters was enough for less seats.

At the third student party S&I there are mixed feelings. ‘I am happy that we could keep our three seats’, says the head Wei Xiong. ‘But we have greater ambitions. Moreover, more seats would help us have more influence on the university’s policies.’

Antonella van Osnabrugge of VeSte was the only lower placed candidate who managed to conquer a seat on her own. She is already member of the student association Ceres and rowing association Argo and was board member of the study association Nitrocra last year, she received 468 preference votes. However, even without votes she would have become part of the council, because one of the higher placed candidates withdrew shortly before the elections.

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