Nu is het moment meer dan ooit What Behind DENK’s 2025 Election Program

DENK 2025 – “Nu is het moment, meer dan ooit!”

DENK’s 2025 election program presents a vision for justice, equality, and solidarity, positioning the party as a shield against discrimination, extremism, and social inequality. Led by Stephan van Baarle, the manifesto responds sharply to what it calls the rise of the extreme-right cabinet, which DENK accuses of spreading racism, ignoring Gaza’s genocide, and worsening poverty and inequality. The party vows to defend human rights, fight discrimination, and restore fairness in Dutch society.

1. Vrij Palestina

A central pillar of the program is DENK’s call for “Freedom for Palestine.”

The party demands severe sanctions on Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, including freezing assets, travel bans, ending military cooperation, and enforcing a total trade and arms embargo. DENK calls for boycotts of Israeli cultural, academic, and sports institutions, exclusion from EU partnerships, and recognition of Israel’s actions as apartheid and colonialism.

It proposes the creation of a Palestinian reconstruction fund, quadrupling support to UNRWA, and medical evacuation for Gazans. DENK rejects the two-state solution, advocating one democratic state—Palestine—where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live equally. It seeks to prosecute Israeli war crimes through international tribunals hosted in the Netherlands.

2. Nederland is van ons allemaal

DENK reaffirms its founding mission: equality for all citizens, opposing every form of discrimination—racial, religious, gender-based, or otherwise. The party proposes:

1. A national anti-discrimination authority with real power,
2. Zero tolerance within government institutions,
3. A “Discrimination Deadline” (0% discrimination by 2030),
4. Heavier penalties, naming & shaming, and a racism offenders register,
5. Antifascism embedded in the Dutch Constitution.

Special focus is given to combating Islamophobia through mosque protection, banning Koran burnings, apologizing for anti-Muslim policies, and criminalizing hate speech against religions.

DENK also promotes religious freedom, including halal/koosjer rights, recognition of Islamic and Hindu holidays, and eternal grave rights.

The party demands reparations for the slavery and colonial past, including a restoration fund, permanent financing for the National Slavery Museum, banning Zwarte Piet, and making Keti Koti a national holiday.

In asylum policy, DENK defends humane refugee reception, rejects restrictive laws, and supports faster integration with personal guidance.

3. Stop de woningcrisis

Housing is described as a fundamental right.

DENK proposes building 100,000 homes per year, creating a Rijksbouwbedrijf and a Minister of Housing, and enforcing a legal quota: 50% social housing, 40% mid-range, 10% high-end.

Rents would be regulated and frozen when necessary; more people qualify for social housing; vacant properties face taxes.

It also promotes interest-free (halal) mortgages, investment in sustainable homes, and measures against housing discrimination.

4. Werken, rondkomen en ondernemen

DENK aims for economic justice and higher living standards:

1. Minimum wage to €18/hour
2. Lower VAT on groceries and more child benefits
3. Energy allowance for low incomes
4. A Minister for Poverty Eradication
5. Replace the toeslagen (benefits) system with a simpler model
6. Progressive taxation: wealthier individuals and large corporations pay more

On labor, DENK wants more job security, equal pay regardless of gender or ethnicity, protection for freelancers (ZZP’ers), and collective disability insurance.

Entrepreneurs and SMEs would receive easier access to credit, lower taxes, and protection from excessive red tape.

5. Jongeren & Onderwijs

Education is the engine of equality. DENK calls for:

1. Reversing education cuts, smaller classes, better teacher pay
2. Free school materials, free meals in poor neighborhoods, and stage (internship) guarantees
3. Strict penalties for stage discrimination
4. Free higher education access, zero interest on student loans, and full compensation for the “pechgeneratie”
5. Cultural and religious inclusion in curricula and more attention to colonial history
6. No government interference in religious education (repeal of the informal education law)

6. Gezondheid en zorg voor iedereen

DENK treats healthcare as a human right. It proposes:

1. Abolishing the own-risk fee and reducing health premiums
2. Including dental and physiotherapy in basic insurance
3. Curbing commercial profits and pharmaceutical monopolies
4. Investing in mental health, elderly care, and youth care
5. Creating a Taskforce for Inclusive & Culturally Sensitive Care
6. Stricter anti-smoking, alcohol, and drug policies, but no sugar or meat tax
7. Raising the legal age for alcohol and tobacco to 21
8. Ethical stances: maintain abortion reflection period, restrict euthanasia expansion, and oppose puberty blockers for minors.

7. Overheid en Veiligheid

DENK envisions a just, human government. It proposes:

1. More neighborhood police and zero tolerance for ethnic profiling
2. A National Coordinator against Violence Against Women
3. Investments in youth prevention, stronger digital security, and protection against extremism
4. Access to justice through more social lawyers and affordable court fees
5. Direct election of mayors, voting age 16, and a Constitutional Court
6. Transparency through a lobby register and royal family taxation
7. Strengthening Caribisch Nederland with equal social standards.

8. Klimaat en Mobiliteit

DENK supports climate neutrality by 2050, with fair measures:

1. A Climate Fund for sustainable investment
2. CO₂ tax for major polluters
3. Support for wind and solar energy; conditional openness to nuclear energy
4. No “nanny-state” taxes like meat or sugar levies
5. Free public transport for low-income people, youth, and seniors
6. Lower fuel excise taxes, no road pricing, and capped parking fees
7. Affordable flying, opposing the flight tax but promoting cleaner aviation technology.

9. Vrede en Internationale Samenwerking

As host of international courts, the Netherlands must lead in diplomacy, conflict mediation, and human rights. DENK promotes peace, fairness, and solidarity with oppressed peoples, rejecting militarism and calling for a foreign policy grounded in justice and equality.