A Reflection on the 2026 Local Elections Debate

On Thursday, March 12, the Maastricht Diplomat moderated a Local Elections Debate for the Maastricht municipal council elections. Sponsored by OmniUM and student party NovUM, the debate saw participation from 10 of the 17 parties, with five candidates present being leaders of their lists. They included: 

Muun Ubbink (#6) Socialist Partij, Floris Soeren (#5) Partij van de Arbeid/Labor Party, Luc Callemijn (#1) GroenLinks, Jules Vaessen (#1) Partij voor de Dieren/Party for the Animals, Jules Ortjens (#1) Volt, Thomas Gardien (#4) D66, Bram van den Berkmortel (#1) M:OED, Bennie van Est (#1) 50PLUS, Partick Veugen (#4) CDA Christian Democratic Appeal, and René Betsch (#2) Partij Veilig Maastricht/Safety Party Maastricht. 

With the 2026 election season concluding on March 18, the debate addressed three topics: housing, sustainability, and youth engagement. The debate was structured to show the audience the positioning of each party and the candidates’ parties’ position on each issue. They also debated specific issues on mobility, language classes, and city-greening when reacting to the audience’s questions. 

Debate Recap | Performance Review

The youngest of the candidates were 19-year-olds Muun Ubbink of the Socialist Party and Floris Soeren of the Labor Party. Ambitious, lively, and passionate in their responses, Ubbink’s expressed chief concerns include saving Landbouwbelang (LBB), protecting LGBTQ+ and alternative cultures, addressing social inequality, and calling for the establishment of social housing to address the pressing housing crisis. Spontaneous and well-established in their principles, Ubbink was successful in conveying a student-centered, youthful narrative that bridges the gap between student concerns and current municipal projects. While slightly more reserved in their projections (but undoubtedly knowledgeable), Soeren relayed a candid vision for Maastricht, inclusive of both students and the general public. Making nightlife safer and providing protected, car-free bike paths for cyclists were among the major points of improvement for Soeren. Reflected in their youthful enthusiasm for local politics, both Ubbink and Soeren proved to students that being involved in local politics is not some distant, unattainable dream; for many, the first step is casting their ballot this Wednesday, March 18. 

#1 on the GroenLinks (GL) candidate list,  Luc Callemijn, presented concrete steps to ‘unlock the potential of Maastricht.’ Acknowledging the need to appeal and retain international students post-study, Callemijn envisioned Maastricht through a prospective lens, highlighting its strategic position in the heart of the Euregio. He defines four steps to ensure Maastricht truly benefits from its geographic location:

1. Better connections to neighboring cities, like Brussels, Liege, and Aachen. 

2. Stimulate knowledge through big projects that attract economic investors (Brightlands and Einstein Telescope, also defended by D66). 

3. Include all the inhabitants of Maastricht in this economic project. 

4. Use the economic benefits to serve nature and the environment, to make Maastricht a sustainable city. 

These four points illustrate GroenLinks’ position for the city, conveying the ambition of the party in these elections. Some of these points were also shared by other parties. To know more about GL’s vision for Maastricht, we interviewed Anne Lucas, fourth on the party’s list. 

Representing the Partij voor de Dieren/Party for the Animals, Jules Vaessen established the parties’ vision for Maastricht as one that emphasizes constructive environmental changes to city planning and making the city climate positive. Articulate and composed, Vaessen presented various green initiatives, heavily stressing the importance of planting trees inside and outside of city limits. The proposition to reshape Maastricht’s urban planning to include more tree-lined streets was a sentiment widely shared across the panel, not only to provide more shaded areas but to materialize a greener Maastricht.

An experienced member of the council and a pioneer in establishing the local branch of Volt, Jules Ortjens proved, alongside Jules Vaessen, the most audacious and outspoken of the candidates. Repetitively emphasizing the need to tax the wealthy to fund transport, culture, and housing initiatives, Ortjens solidified Volt’s interest in making Maastricht viable for all citizens. In tackling the current and rampant inequality in Maastricht, he stressed the harmful implications of what he dubbed “McDonald’s culture” that makes the city center “unsafe and unlivable” for residents. According to Ortjens, the prioritization of tourism culture within the city center not only adds to the disparity between Maastricht residents but does so while hindering the city from reaching its full potential. He proposed making the city center car-free, a sustainable and achievable step in addressing this limitation. Another point of concern for Volt is making the inner workings of the city council and their pursuits more accessible for English-speakers. While the public municipal meetings are held in Dutch, Ortjens affirms that the language barrier does not excuse the council from accountability and transparency on behalf of students. 

As a current city councillor for D66, Thomas Gardien shared his energy and convictions with the audience to give his views on current issues Maastricht faces. He emphasized the party’s priorities on education and student housing that they will bring up in the coalition talks. Gardien, like other parties, puts youth and students at the heart of his motivation to act. This vision was also shared by Marlou Jenneskens, leader of the party in these elections, when we interviewed her. 

Student, Vice- Chair of UM’s University Council, and co-leader of M:OED, Bram van den Berkmortel promoted the most youth-centered party with 80% of students on the list. Throughout the evening, he emphasized M: OED’s priorities for more bicycle lanes, more municipal communication in English, and to put students at the heart of the city’s action. Another priority was put on building student housing and making regulations easier to allow for more such housing projects. Van den Berkmortel was firm in his position and strongly emphasized the importance of a city like Maastricht to care for its students. 

The most contrarian of the bunch, Partick Veugen of the Christian Democrat Appeal (CDA), proved an invigorating challenge to the formed consensus displayed on the left side of the panel. Polished in his counters, Veugen was firm in his propositions and set clear guidelines as to what he deemed was plausible and implausible by the council. In agreement with 50PLUS, on the topic of housing, he stressed that some housing initiatives were out of the scope of the municipal capacity and that more pressure should be placed on the university to provide accommodation for students. Against the proposal of expanding car-free zones in the city center and retaining/increasing the toeristenbelasting (tourist tax), Veugen was unwavering and grounded in his difference of opinion. Veugen proposes focusing on what changes can be made within the city limits before expansion is considered. Within these city limits, he envisions a Maastricht that fosters community despite demographic differences.

On the right side of the panel, Bennie van Est (50PLUS) and René Betsch (Partij Veilig Maastricht) defended a different vision for the city. In an admission not of defeat but of accountability, both van Est and Betsch disclosed the fact that they were not in a position to gain much support from a student crowd (not their parties’ target group). Betsch explicitly mentioned his participation in wanting to hear students’ ideas on local culture and youth engagement in the city.  Nonetheless, they still participated in the event, openly conversed with the other candidates, and shared their visions on student housing, security in neighborhoods, and sustainability. Depicting a strong attachment to the value of local democracy and a respectful acknowledgement of student participation.

Final Regards

This debate was a rare opportunity to bring together 10 candidates in direct conversation with students about our concerns. At the Maastricht Diplomat, we value this dialogue as a shared responsibility and regard it as essential to ensure a fair representation of students in the local community. Although the campaign season for the 2026 Elections is coming to a close, this does not mean that the game of politics is over. We should not forget how important this dialogue is; it is the only way to make sure this city suits us all.