More, more, more does justice to our multicultural society

An article appeared on NU.nl on 2 March about greater diversity in the Lower House (NU.nl, 2021). According to the Montesquieu Institute in The Hague, 20 out of 150 Lower House members will have a migration background after the elections. Over the past 10 years, the number of Lower House members with a migration background has doubled. We as a board of DWARS Limburg are very pleased to read that the next Lower House may look more diverse. GroenLinks is also one of the parties with the most MPs with a migration background. Despite this progress, it seems there is still very much work to be done. Indeed, the Lower House will still not be a good reflection of society (also in other areas). For instance, research by the Parliamentary Documentation Centre (PDC) has shown that in terms of gender, age and education, the Lower House is and is becoming far from representative of our society. The Surcharge Scandal puts the idea of a more diverse Lower House into perspective and shows that it will be all the more important to get a more diverse Lower House. Indeed, it was also typical that a multicultural team worked to make all the documents within this scandal more accessible. Again, this also shows the power of diversity and, ultimately, it is important for people to be able to identify with politicians. This also means that other political parties will have to step up their game. The PVV, for example, does not count a single MP with a migration background even though it is the 2nd largest party in the Netherlands in terms of seats. In addition, young people need to see that politics is not just for white men, but for literally everyone. This way, everyone can be inspired to enter politics and the Lower House will automatically become more inclusive and a representation of all people. This way, the rights of all Dutch people can be protected and hopefully a Toeslag scandal will not happen again.

NOW (2021). Number of MPs with migration background looks set to rise after elections Consulted on 6 March 2021 from Number of MPs with migration background appears to rise after elections |. NU - Latest news first on NU.nl