AMSTERDAM/ROTTERDAM – The first black party in the Netherlands is a fact. U-buntu Connected Front (UCF) registered in Amsterdam and Rotterdam for the municipal elections of March 2018. But whether the Afro party will be successful, Aziz El Kaddouri of the research bureau EtnoBarometer is doubtful.
Analysts are not hopeful about its chances
The name of the party, U-buntu Connected Front, comes from Africa and means respect, solidarity and unity. “You are ubuntu if you have self-confidence and stand up for people who are humiliated or oppressed,” explains initiator, Iwan Leeuwin. “Translated to the Dutch situation you end up in slavery and racism,” says the former party chairman of GroenLinks in Amsterdam.
“You do not win seats with one theme such as discrimination”
However, Kaddouri, who is conducting research with EtnoBarometer on the electoral behavior of ethnic minorities in the Netherlands, sees little profit for UCF. “The party does not add anything to the political landscape yet. The party has themes that are also claimed by other parties. And you will not win seats with one theme such as discrimination.”
Feel at home
Yet UCF supporters do not feel at home with other parties such as DENK or BIJ1 from Sylvana Simons. “DENK is for the Turks and Sylvana Simons is for Surinamese”, says board member Ronald Schenkers. He himself comes from Curaçao. “Other political parties, GroenLinks, SP and the PvdA, only put immigrants on the list to attract immigrant voters. Those parties also do not stand up for issues that black Dutch consider important.”
Because UCF has a limited target group, the number of votes to be gathered is also limited. Only 20-25 percent of the people from the target group of UCF will vote according to the measurements of Etnobarometer. “With the theme of discrimination in your program you are not interesting enough”, according to Kaddouri. “Someone from Africa has other worries than someone from the Caribbean.”
Broad platform needed
According to Kaddouri, new parties such as UCF only have a real chance if they have a broad platform with themes such as housing, care, public transport and employment.
“If Sylvana did not succeed, it will certainly not succeed as an unknown party”
UCF wants education to pay more attention to the Dutch role in slavery. Racism and ethnic profiling must be stopped. But we also need to work on the black identity of Dutch people with an African background. Schenkers thinks that pupils with a Caribbean or Surinamese background should be able to choose Papiamentu or Sranang at school. “Turks and Moroccans can speak Dutch well. We must prevent our languages from being snowed under.”
Strong party leader
And then there is the role of the party leader. “A strong party leader is certainly essential for a new party,” notes Kaddouri. The list of UCF is headed by the Amsterdam old GroenLinks party leader, Iwan Leeuwin. “If Sylvana Simons in Rotterdam did not manage to get one seat with Article 1, then it will certainly not be successful for an unknown party with ditto leader”, predicts Kaddouri.
Source: CaribischNetwerk | Sam Jones & Natasja Gibbs.
