University Council elections: big gains for new student party ONS, low turn-out
Following the elections for the University Council, the new student party ONS has won five seats, LVS two and CSL one. All the parties in the staff section have retained their seats. The turn-out was low for both staff and students.
Students
Several of the student parties experienced some changes in the run-up to the elections. In the spring, Student Party Leiden (SGL) adopted a new name: Entrepreneurial Students Leiden (ONS, in Dutch). They were also in negotiation with Aware and Progressive (BeP) regarding a possible merger. This did not come about before the elections; nonetheless Sander van Diepen, council member for BeP member, transferred to ONS. He was elected as the third ONS member.
5:2:1
At the previous elections, SGL won three seats and BeP one. ONS now has five seats: the party managed to win a seat from LVS (List of Progressive Students). The student section now comprises five ONS Leiden members, one representative of the Christian Student Fraction (CSL) and the two remaining members of LVS.
BeP just managed to maintain its position in the elections for the Faculty Councils: two seats at Humanities and one at Social and Behavioural Sciences.
Staff
ABVAKABO has changed its name to FNV Overheid. With four seats, it remains the largest party. Universitair Belang and PhDoc both retain two seats.
Turnout
The turnout for the University Council elections fell this year: for students by 1.3% from 21 to 19.7%, for staff by 8% from 33.1% to 25.1% The turn-out for the Faculty Council elections (sudents only) varied from 16.2% at Archaeology to 28.9% at Social and Behavioural Sciences.
(CH)