Ubuntu Connected Front (UFC) candidate Kenneth Cuvalay is number three on the slate for the Dutch Parliament elections on March 17.
THE HAGUE--Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF), a brand-new party that will be participating in the upcoming March 17 Dutch parliamentary elections, has three St. Eustatius-born candidates on its slate for the Caribbean Netherlands electoral district.
Kenneth Cuvalay is number three on the slate, Charles Woodley number seven and Carlos Lopes number 13. The Electoral Council in the Netherlands approved the slate on Friday and it has received list number 29. The party will participate in 13 electoral districts, including in number 20: Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
“Africa is registered at the Electoral Council and enters the Dutch political arena. In honour of our spiritual and courageous ancestors who fought oppression for our freedom, we now carry the moral responsibility to carry on their struggle,” said UCF leader Regillio Vaarnold.
UCF dedicates the most attention by far to the Dutch Caribbean and subjects such as racism, discrimination, colonialism and the Black Agenda in its manifesto. With its transformation programme, UCF wants to end decennia and generations of institutional racism and structural discrimination, which requires a fundamental revision of Dutch society, its economy and laws.
“This is the start of something new, a revolution to rewrite the system. We bring a harsh message about necessary change, about settling with neo-colonialism and racial inequality. The Netherlands has a racist past and a racist present, but together we can make sure that we have a shared future. Black votes matter too,” said party chairman Vaarnold in the manifesto.
Number three candidate Cuvalay lived and worked in St. Eustatius from 2009 to 2018, the last five years as clinical manager of Mental Health Caribbean, and currently lives in the Netherlands. He has the mandate as representative for the Ubuntu Connected Front party in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Cuvalay decided to join UCF because it has the Dutch Caribbean and the issues that are important truly at heart: human rights, poverty and social security, youth unemployment, the educational system and an end to colonialism, oppression and the “Euro-centric dominant approach.”
“The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity and that inflicted tremendous suffering on our ancestors and continues to affect our people of African descent to this day, economically and socially, with the marginalisation of our people, based on the legacy of continuation of colonialism within our system and institutions. This is a subject that needs the full attention,” Cuvalay told The Daily Herald.
He noted that the changes in the constitutional relations of the Dutch Caribbean islands in 2010 have made matters worse. “Since that transition, people have been treated by the dominant power of the Netherlands government and people have been put away as third-class citizens.”
As for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, which became Dutch public entities, Cuvalay said that socially and economically, people ended up in a worse situation than before 2010 due to the high prices that adversely affected the quality of life. He said that people also lost their identity because of the “Euro-centric influx of methods and laws” that do not take the local situation, socially and culturally, into consideration.
“The UCF wants to change that. UCF is a party of transformation in relation to equality for all in society and human rights. We are also looking at the crimes against humanity that were committed in terms of reparations for our people,” he said.
According to Cuvalay, the larger political parties in the Netherlands have all collaborated with the Dutch government to “oppress” the Caribbean region to “dominate and rule.” He specifically referred to the takeover of the Statia government by the Netherlands early 2018 based on “trumped-up charges.”
“The irony is that the same Progressive Labour Party (PLP) that the Dutch put aside in Statia, won last year’s elections. That is an indication of how people stand and how they see the right to self-determination, which is repressed in many ways.
“UCF is the only party that has a broad agenda which looks at the islands and has the people’s interest truly at heart. The other parties with elected representatives in the Second Chamber [of the Dutch Parliament – Ed.] simply don’t and they refuse to acknowledge the transatlantic controversial issues,” said Cuvalay.
