The present Student Council (partially through video conferencing) after the most recent election result in May 2022. Photo Luuk Zegers. The Student Council has twelve seats, but only eleven students have made themselves available as candidates, rendering the elections redundant.
Student Council chair Wybrig Bakker: ‘We have reached a decision; there will definitely be no elections this year. We are currently discussing what this means and how to proceed.’ The Student Council wants to work on its visibility in the coming period, says Bakker.
The conclusion that the eleven student candidates meet the criteria listed in the election regulations was reached last Monday, says Hermijn Speelman, the Student Council’s administrative secretary. What will happen with the twelfth seat is not yet known.
Now what?
‘The regulations are not clear about what must be done about a vacant seat in the event of a cancelled election and fewer than twelve candidates’, Speelman explains. ‘The Student Council will seek the advice of WUR’s legal department and decide on how to proceed during their meeting next week Tuesday.’
Speelman declines to reveal how many candidates represent each of the student parties. ‘We will present the candidates next week.’ It is, however, clear that all of the current parties (VeSte, S&I and CSF) will be represented again.
The last time that elections were cancelled due to a lack of candidates was in 2012. At that time, there were exactly twelve candidates.
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