THE HAGUE - The popular leader of BIJ1, Sylvana Simons, who is well-regarded in Caribbean circles, will leave politics after the elections on November 22. "I have to campaign amidst a bed of untrue frames. I cannot be the general who leads her troops to victory like this," said the politician.
Simons joined Denk in 2016 but quickly left amid disagreements. She founded BIJ1 with the mission to combat racism and discrimination. In 2018, she entered the Dutch Parliament. The party advocated for inclusion and connection, but it faced challenges internally. The party's number two, Quincy Gario, was expelled based on vague accusations. Several party branches turned their backs on BIJ1, and there were frequent conflicts within the leadership. To top it off, last week, all three members of the BIJ1 faction in the Amsterdam City Council left the party, accompanied by strong accusations against Simons, whom they referred to as "stabbing them in the back."
Although Simons, as an independent parliamentarian, had limited opportunities to attend meetings of the Kingdom Relations Committee, she regularly posed written questions and submitted motions concerning the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. She was the only parliamentarian who, during the debate on the fall of the Rutte IV cabinet, drew attention to the consequences for the islands if important dossiers were stalled.