BIJ1

BIJ1 (formerly known as Artikel 1) is a political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 2016 by Sylvana Simons, a television personality who was formerly connected to Denk.[4][5][6] BIJ1[7][8] focuses on fighting racism and discrimination in the Netherlands.[9]

BIJ1
LeaderSylvana Simons
Founded24 December 2016
Youth wingRADICAAL
IdeologyAnticapitalism[1][2][3]
Multiculturalism[1]
Senate
0 / 75
House of Representatives
0 / 150
King's Commissioners
0 / 12
States-Provincial
0 / 570
European Parliament
0 / 26
Website
www.bij1.org
  • Politics of Netherlands
  • Political parties
  • Elections

History
Logo of Artikel 1.

Sylvana Simons joined DENK in 2016.[10] DENK was founded by Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk, two former Labour MP's who split from the party after a major disagreement with immigration minister Lodewijk Asscher.[11] However Simons left DENK in december 2016. The main reason being for her departure being the lack of support she felt from the party through a period of intense death threats.[12] She also felt that DENK became more and more a conservative party, which had little interest in more progressive causes, such as LGBT rights.

Directly after her departure from DENK Simons founded her own party: Article 1 (Dutch: Artikel 1). This refers to the first article of the Dutch constitution, which prohibits discrimination and racism.

2017 Tweede Kamer election

On 15 march 2017 Article 1 contested the parliamentary election, with Simons as lijsttrekker, other prominent candidates for Article 1 were anthropologist Gloria Wekker and former Socialist Party senator Anja Meulenbelt. Article 1 failed to get enough signatures in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe to get on the ballot.

Article 1 managed to gain 28,700 votes (0.27%), missing the 0.67% threshold to get a seat in parliament. The party was mostly supported in municipalities with a large Afro-Dutch population, such as Amsterdam (2.5%), Almere (1.9%), Diemen (1.7%) and Rotterdam (1.3%). The party also achieved a reasonable result in the Caribbean Netherlands (1.6%). The party did poorly in more rural municipalities and cities with little or no immigrant population.

Name change

The party Article 1 was sued by anti-discrimination think tank Art.1 for trademark infringement. The judge's verdict was in favor of Art.1, and therefore Simons was forced to change the name of the party.[13] On 29 october 2017 the new name was announced: BIJ1.[14] BIJ1 refers to the Dutch word bijeen, which translates to Together.

Local elections 2018

The party only contested the Dutch local elections in march 2018 in Amsterdam. Sylvana Simons was again elected as lijsttrekker. During the campaign a candidate of the party got accused of lying about her résumé. She claimed to be a psychiatrist, although she could not produce the needed registration. She was eventually withdrawn as a candidate.[15]

Despite this the party won 6,571 votes (1.9%), just enough to win a seat on the city council. The best results for Bij1 were in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, especially in the Bijlmermeer, which is home to a large Suriname migrant population.

Ideology

The ideology of BIJ1 has two pillars: radical equality and economic justice.[16] The party strives for the emancipation of the LGBT community, stronger anti-hate speech laws and an end to ethnic profiling. The party controversially calls for the abolishment of the Zwarte Piet tradition.[17]

Economically the party calls for a single-payer healthcare system, the closing of the gender wage gap and replacing gross domestic product with the concept of gross national happiness as the dominant economic indicator.

Electoral results

Parliament
Election year Tweede Kamer
Votes % # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2017 28,700 0.3 (#16)
0 / 150
 New

Local election
Election year Gemeenteraad
Gemeente Votes % # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2018 Amsterdam 6,571 1.9 (#12)
1 / 45
 New

References
  1. "We zijn de luis in de pels, houden iedereen scherp" (PDF) (in Dutch). De Kanttekening. Archived from the original on 2017-03-03. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  2. "Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. "Identiteitspolitiek of klassenstrijd?" (in Dutch). De Groene Amsterdammer. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  4. "Sylvana Simons was eerst met naam Artikel 1". Ad.nl. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  5. "'Artikel 1' heeft een verkeerde naam". Trouw.nl. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  6. Vries, Joost de. "Simons presenteert twintig kandidaten Artikel 1 - Politiek - Voor nieuws, achtergronden en columns". Volkskrant.nl. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  7. "Bedrijfsinformatie bestellen". www.kvk.nl.
  8. "Afwijzing partijnaam 'Plaatselijke Politieke Groeperingen' en gewijzigde partijnaam 'BIJ1' - Nieuwsbericht - Kiesraad.nl". www.kiesraad.nl. 14 February 2020.
  9. "TV commentator makes equality an issue in Dutch elections". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  10. Redactie (2016-05-18). "Sylvana Simons sluit zich aan bij partij DENK". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  11. "Verklaring namens het Partijbestuur van de PvdA | PvdA". 2016-03-15. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  12. "Sylvana Simons weg bij Denk, begint nieuwe partij". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  13. van Ast, Maarten. "Sylvana 'teleurgesteld' over verplichte naamswijziging Artikel 1". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  14. "Artikel1 is er uit: 'Vanaf nu heten wij BIJ1'". www.at5.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  15. Stoffelen, Anneke (2018-01-11). "Cailin Kuit trekt zich terug als kandidaat van Bij1, de partij van Sylvana Simons". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  16. "About BIJ1". www.bij1.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  17. "Nieuwe Politiek van Economische Rechtvaardigheid & Radicale Gelijkwaardigheid" (PDF). Bij1.
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