BIJ1

BIJ1 (Dutch pronunciation: [bɛi̯ˈeːn]; lit. 'together'), formerly known as Article 1 (Dutch: 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.[5][6][7] BIJ1 focuses on fighting racism and discrimination in the Netherlands.[8]

BIJ1
LeaderSylvana Simons
FoundersSylvana Simons
Ian van der Kooye
Founded24 December 2016 (2016-12-24)
Split fromDENK[1]
Youth wingRAD1CAAL
Membership2,500+[2]
IdeologyAnti-racism
Egalitarianism
Anti-capitalism[3]
Black-Dutch interests[4]
Feminism[4]
Political positionFar-left[3]
Senate
0 / 75
House of Representatives
0 / 150
States-Provincial
0 / 570
European Parliament
0 / 29
Amsterdam Municipal Council
1 / 45
Website
www.bij1.org

History
Logo of Artikel 1.

Foundation

In 2016, Sylvana Simons joined Denk, a political movement founded by MPs Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk after leaving the Labour Party following an internal dispute over the party's position on integration.[9][10] In December of the same year, Simons left the movement because she was disappointed by the amount of support she received from the party during a period of intense death threats.[11] She also felt that Denk was becoming increasingly more conservative and that it was losing interest in more progressive causes, such as LGBT rights.

Directly after her departure from Denk, Simons founded her own party named "Article 1". This refers to the first article of the Dutch constitution, which prohibits discrimination and racism.

2017 general 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.[12] On 29 October 2017, the new name was announced: BIJ1.[13] BIJ1 refers to the Dutch word bijeen, which translates to "together".

2018 municipal elections

The party only contested the municipal elections in March 2018 in Amsterdam. Sylvana Simons was again elected as lijsttrekker. During the campaign a candidate of the party was accused of lying about her résumé, in which she wrongfully claimed to be a psychiatrist. She was eventually withdrawn as a candidate.[14]

Despite this incident, 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 Surinamese migrant population.

2021 general election

In February 2020, the party announced that it would compete in the upcoming 2021 general election.[15] In November 2020, the candidate list was approved by the general assembly. Sylvana Simons was again selected as lijsttrekker and anti-racism activist Quinsy Gario was placed as the second place candidate.[16][17] The party is supported by prominent lijstduwers, such as academic Gloria Wekker and actresses Anousha Nzume and Romana Vrede.[18]

Ideology

According to the party, its two pillars are radical equality and economic justice.[19] The party strives for the emancipation of the LGBT community, stronger anti-hate speech laws and an end to ethnic profiling.

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

General elections
Election year House of Representatives
Votes % # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2017 28,700 0.3 (#16)
0 / 150
 New

Municipal elections
Election year Municipal council
Municipality Votes % # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2018 Amsterdam 6,571 1.9 (#12)
1 / 45
 New

References
  1. "'Nederland heeft een lange traditie van splinterpartijen'" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS). 25 December 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. @PolitiekBIJ1 (6 January 2021). "Tweet". Twitter (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 February 2021. We groeien door! Inmiddels hebben we meer dan 2.500 leden.
  3. Langelaan, Loudi (20 March 2018). "De linkse waakhond van Amsterdam (interview with Jazie Veldhuyzen)". OneWorld (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. Bryan Sol Miranda (14 March 2017). "The black Dutch feminist taking the fight against right-wing extremism to the ballot box". Equal Times. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  5. "Sylvana Simons was eerst met naam Artikel 1". Ad.nl (in Dutch). 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  6. Ger Groot (24 December 2016). "'Artikel 1' heeft een verkeerde naam". Trouw.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  7. Vries, Joost de (16 January 2017). "Simons presenteert twintig kandidaten Artikel 1 - Politiek - Voor nieuws, achtergronden en columns". Volkskrant.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  8. Mike Corder (3 March 2017). "TV commentator makes equality an issue in Dutch elections". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017.
  9. "Sylvana Simons sluit zich aan bij partij DENK". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 18 May 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. "Verklaring namens het Partijbestuur van de PvdA | PvdA" (in Dutch). 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. "Sylvana Simons weg bij Denk, begint nieuwe partij". nos.nl (in Dutch). 24 December 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  12. van Ast, Maarten (7 June 2017). "Sylvana 'teleurgesteld' over verplichte naamswijziging Artikel 1". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  13. "Artikel1 is er uit: 'Vanaf nu heten wij BIJ1'". www.at5.nl (in Dutch). 29 October 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. Stoffelen, Anneke (11 January 2018). "Cailin Kuit trekt zich terug als kandidaat van Bij1, de partij van Sylvana Simons". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  15. ANP (25 January 2020). "BIJ1 doet nieuwe poging voor Kamerzetel". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  16. "Sylvana Simons stapt uit raad Amsterdam, richt zich op Tweede Kamerverkiezingen". nos.nl (in Dutch). 31 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  17. Koops, Ruben (4 September 2020). "Quinsy Gario wil Tweede Kamer in namens Bij1". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  18. "Kandidaten BIJ1. Een historische lijst". www.bij1.org (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  19. "About BIJ1". www.bij1.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
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