Hassan (31) from Syria will vote for the first time in the Netherlands this year: "If you do not vote, you cannot complain."

Hassan is sure he will vote. "I see voting in the Netherlands as 'real' and not a performance, like in my country." He has been following Dutch politics for 4 years and finds the debates in the House of Representatives fascinating, especially the way the politicians interact with each other: "You see 2 people from different parties arguing hard, but when the debate is over, you see them walking away smiling and talking to each other normally."

Hassan finds it strange that some young Dutch people do not vote, he has a clear message: "If you do not vote but you think there are problems in the Netherlands, then you should not complain."

Although he was not yet allowed to vote in 2023, Hassan followed the elections extensively even then. PVV's win was a big shock. The shock intensified when a close colleague of his shouted "Geertje, Geertje!" out of joy. Hassan thinks that the colleague's vote for the PVV was a reaction to the arrival of migrants, but also to the housing shortage and rising prices. Hassan, the first Syrian and person with a migrant background in his company, was worried. " The PVV makes people believe that migrants and refugees are the cause of all the problems in the Netherlands."

Hassan prepares properly for the elections. He reads the election programmes and discusses them with his colleagues. He thinks that the solution to the housing crisis is the most important issue. Therefore, he wants to strategically vote for the party that has a real solution to housing. But he has an important limit: "I refuse to link the housing crisis to immigration. The solution is to build more, and you need migrants to build houses. I see that in my job, since I work in civil construction." He concludes, "I will certainly never vote for a party that has a solution to the housing crisis but wants to deport migrants and refugees."