Programme: Amsterdam Alternative Alliance - Every person counts!

Download PDF
Manifesto for Radical Unity
Poster

Win together or go down separately. We are at a crossroads. When external pressure increases, our deepest human impulse is to put up walls. We become defensive, we point fingers at each other, and we isolate those next to us because they think or act ‘differently’. But let’s not forget: every finger we point at an ally is a gift to our real opponent.

History is crystal clear: a divided house cannot withstand the storm. The oppressor and the challenge we face do not need brute force if we undermine ourselves from within. Our division is their greatest weapon. That is why we agree on the following:

  • Our mission is above our ego. We refuse to waste our energy on internal struggles over details while the core of our existence is threatened. We focus on what unites us, not what divides us.
  • An ally is a gift, not an enemy. We will stop demanding perfection from our partners. An imperfect ally is a shield; an isolated ally is a lost opportunity. We celebrate what connects us and set aside the points on which we disagree.
  • We build bridges, not walls. Defensiveness is a sign of fear; cooperation is a sign of invincible strength. We listen to understand, not to refute.
  • We do not play the opponent’s game. We refuse to be pawns in the strategy of ‘divide and rule’. Every time we feel the urge to attack an ally, we refocus our gaze on the real horizon.

The strength of the wolf lies in the pack. Alone, we are vulnerable; together, we are a force to be reckoned with. Let us summon the courage to step out of our own shadows. Let us choose the power of a handshake over a clenched fist.

We choose unity, cooperation and co-creation.

“Let us realise that we are all in the same boat. If one person sets fire to the stern, the person at the bow will also sink.”

This policy programme is based on one fundamental belief: policy is only fair when it respects human dignity and protects the rights of residents. The Constitution and universal human rights are not abstract ideals, but the concrete framework against which every municipal decision must be measured. Open government, transparency and accessibility are not favours granted by the government, but conditions for democratic control. In an age of increasing digitalisation and systems thinking, the municipality emphatically chooses people over systems, freedom over control and openness over secrecy.

Principles

  • The Constitution as a compass: We demand that the government proactively assesses every action and every new policy proposal against the Constitution and universal fundamental rights. The protection of human dignity is not optional, but the basis of every decision.
  • Transparency and accessibility: Government actions must be completely open, transparent and accessible. All financial matters, budgets and expenditures are publicly accessible as standard, so that residents never have to request information in order to know how public money is being spent. Decision-making processes, algorithms and contacts with lobbyists are Open Data as standard.
  • Digital fundamental rights: The municipality does not pursue policies that lead to digital coercion, indirect exclusion or permanent monitoring of residents.
  • No surveillance city: No use of facial recognition, sound sensors or other forms of mass surveillance in public spaces.
  • Secrecy is the exception: Confidentiality is always temporary, justified and legally verifiable.

Amsterdam is a global city, but not a geopolitical player. Precisely for this reason, the city has a special responsibility to distance itself from enemy thinking, escalation and symbolic politics that fuel division. From a people-oriented and pacifist perspective, the municipality chooses peace, dialogue and international solidarity based on encounter and mutual understanding. International relations are not an extension of power politics, but a means of connecting people, reducing tensions and creating space for cooperation beyond differences.

Principles

  • We oppose hostility, war rhetoric and escalation politics. The municipality promotes a culture of peace, dialogue and international connection. Based on a pacifist-inspired view of humanity, we support initiatives that promote encounter, mutual understanding and cooperation between peoples, rather than polarisation and conflict.
  • Municipal policy is aimed at de-escalation and refrains from symbolic or material policies that fuel international conflicts.
  • International cooperation is people-oriented and based on exchange, not on geopolitical bloc formation.

Housing, income and access to basic amenities together form the core of livelihood security. Without a safe and affordable home, without peace of mind about debts or daily amenities, freedom is an empty promise. The municipality therefore chooses housing as a right, not a commodity, and support that empowers people rather than controls them. Policy in this area focuses on stability, local connectedness and a human touch: a city where residents can continue to live, thrive and care for each other, without constant pressure from market forces, bureaucracy or uncertainty.

Principles

  • Affordable housing is a right:
    • We ensure a fair distribution of housing, a reduction in housing costs and a shortening of the waiting time for social housing. We will stop the sale or demolition of social housing that is still in good condition. Strengthening social housing is a priority in order to combat the housing shortage.
    • Tenants’ rights that have been taken away will be restored. Housing associations will once again become housing cooperatives where tenants, as members, have the final say. A social inheritance right for tenants will be introduced so that children can continue to live where they grew up. In this way, we cherish family and neighbourhood relationships, strengthen cohesion and combat undesirable pressure to move on.
    • A municipal housing cooperative will be established, in which residents can become co-owners on a non-commercial basis. In addition to social housing, we will develop cooperative-based ownership, which will prevent speculative resale in order to keep housing costs low. The privatisation of land will be stopped.
    • We will scrap rules that hinder house sharing and allow permanent residence in holiday homes.
    • Vacancy will be discouraged through proportional measures (temporary, transparent and careful). Squatting will not be punished.
    • Nature-inclusive construction will be chosen for new construction and renovation. The use of hemp, wood and elephant grass will be actively encouraged.
    • Resident and neighbourhood initiatives will be supported and actively incorporated into policy.
  • Human Debt Assistance and Support: We will make debt assistance simpler and more humane. No costs from bailiffs that threaten the minimum income. Actual remission through the cessation of privacy-invading enforcement procedures.
  • Experiments with Freedom in Social Assistance: We will use all the scope in the law to abolish rules (such as the obligation to apply for jobs) for more financial freedom and less bureaucracy. We strive for an Unconditional Universal Basic Income.
  • Food Security: A coordinated approach to food waste. Shops that give food to residents in need will be rewarded.
  • Local ties and social cohesion may play a role in housing policy, provided they are applied transparently and fairly.
  • Tourist withdrawal of living space (short-stay, Airbnb, hotelisation) is strictly limited.
  • The municipality guarantees housing security by structuring ground rent regulations and buy-out conditions in such a way that they do not create a divide between residents who can and cannot buy out. Housing is not a speculative instrument, neither for the market nor for the government.
  • Local food production and short supply chains are actively encouraged in and around the city.

The city’s economy exists to offer people a dignified existence, not to make people fit into economic systems. Work should provide security, meaning and space to live, care for others and contribute to the community. The municipality has therefore opted for a local, social and resilient economy in which decent work, participation and social value are central. Public policy and public money are consciously used to strengthen local business activity, combat exploitation and prevent digitisation or market logic from reducing people to cost items or data.

Principles

  • The economy is a means, not an end: Amsterdam’s economy must serve decent work, local resilience and social value, not abstract growth, speculation or profit maximisation.
  • Decent work as the norm: Everyone who works should be able to live off their work. In all its own tenders, subsidies and collaborations, the municipality applies a standard for decent pay, job security and healthy working hours. Arrangements that lead to bogus self-employment, exploitation or permanent insecurity are actively discouraged.
  • Local and Cooperative Economy: The municipality encourages local businesses, cooperatives, crafts and social enterprises that create value for the city and its residents. Cooperative ownership, employee participation and community models are given priority over anonymous capital structures.
  • Space for Small Entrepreneurs: Small entrepreneurs, self-employed persons and neighbourhood businesses are the backbone of the city. The municipality protects them against displacement by large-scale chains, excessive rents and excessive regulation. Affordable commercial space is actively maintained and developed, with special attention to manufacturing, repair, circular activities and cultural production.
  • Municipal Procurement Policy as a Lever: Public money is used to strengthen social goals. In municipal procurement and tendering, local involvement, sustainability, social impact and working conditions are given greater weight than just the lowest price.
  • Work without Fear: The municipality combats a culture of mistrust and control in the workplace. Job seekers and social assistance recipients are not treated as a problem, but as people with talents. Sanctions policy is being reduced; guidance, training and voluntary participation are given priority.
  • Lifelong Learning, Free and Accessible: Training and retraining are publicly accessible and not linked to coercion or performance requirements. The city facilitates work-based learning, craft schools and practical training in collaboration with local initiatives and businesses.
  • Digitalisation at the service of workers: Digitalisation must never lead to invisible selection, exclusion or algorithmic assessment of workers. The municipality opposes automated systems that reduce people to data profiles and monitors human assessment in all decisions affecting work and income.

Care is not a system to which people must adapt, but support that moves with the life that someone leads. The municipality opts for care that is close by, accessible and humane, with trust in professionals, informal carers and residents themselves. Self-determination, control and dignity are central: support is tailored to personal needs and social context, not to bureaucratic frameworks. Inclusion means that everyone can participate fully in city life, with space for meeting others, accessibility and connectedness as the foundation for health and well-being.

Principles

  • Tailored Care, Without Hassle: Stop bureaucracy in the Social Support Act (Wmo) and Youth Care. Trust in professionals and district nursing.
  • Self-determination: The city is breaking with care institutions that have repeatedly been negatively assessed by the Inspectorate. Outpatient (home) support is given priority over institutionalisation.
  • Support for informal carers: Personal care budget (PGB) support centres must be able to help people at home. Informal carers are entitled to a full salary via the PGB.
  • Inclusive public space: Full accessibility and combating stigma. Playgrounds will become “wheel-friendly” (skate/BMX/inclusive courses).
  • Sufficient public toilets: Always a toilet available in public spaces.
  • Control remains with the resident: care is tailored to the life someone leads, rather than to compartmentalised systems, indications or standard procedures. The municipality opts for customisation, trust in professionals and room for personal choices, so that support matches what people really need.
  • The municipality takes responsibility for sufficient local care capacity, including neighbourhood care, mental health care, youth care and elderly care. Waiting times, staff shortages and the disappearance of facilities are not natural phenomena, but the result of policy choices. The city opts for timely upscaling and maintaining care close to home.
  • Combating loneliness will become a structural public task. The municipality will continue to invest in meeting places, accessible activities and social infrastructure, so that young people, the elderly and vulnerable groups remain connected to their neighbourhood and community in the long term.
  • Control over patient records: residents retain control over their own medical and care data. They determine who has access to their records, what data is shared, and can enforce access, correction and restriction of use.

Education and development extend beyond the classroom. A free, resilient city offers space to learn, think, meet and bridge differences. The municipality sees schools, libraries, community centres and other places of knowledge as public sanctuaries where children, young people and adults can develop broadly, without coercion or ideological guidance. By actively facilitating encounters, dialogue and open knowledge, the city strengthens critical thinking, social cohesion and the ability to deal peacefully with social tensions.

Principles

  • Peaceful Schools: Smaller classes and connections between schools and youth centres for extra lessons, philosophy and talent development on a voluntary basis.
  • Inclusive Education: We encourage and facilitate the merging of mainstream and special schools so that every child can grow up and learn in a natural, diverse environment.
  • The City as a Living Room: Free Space for Debate and Encounter:
    • In every neighbourhood, accessible “Debate and Dialogue Spaces” will be set up in libraries or community centres.
    • Free access: No room rental fees for residents’ initiatives and no obligation to purchase refreshments.
    • Open Microphone: Weekly hours for citizens to put topics on the agenda.
    • Opposites together: Organising active meetings to counter polarisation.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Centre & Knowledge Centres:
    • We will establish a (digital) centre at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, based on the King Centre model, where young people learn to solve social problems non-violently.
    • We will establish various Knowledge Centres for Peace and Progress throughout the city. These places will offer broad inspiration from various sources on social movements and historical progress.
  • Open Knowledge: Municipally funded software and knowledge will be made freely accessible to the public as standard.
  • Schools, libraries and other places of knowledge are sanctuaries for dialogue, research and critical thinking. The municipality guarantees space for diverse perspectives and protects these places from one-sided political, ideological or commercial influence.
  • The municipality creates the conditions for meeting, debate and social exchange, but refrains from influencing content. It does not determine which opinions or views are desirable, but guarantees that diverse voices can be heard.
  • Algorithms, data models and automated decision-making systems used by or on behalf of the municipality are subject to open knowledge. Their operation, assumptions and consequences are transparent, explainable and verifiable for residents and elected representatives.

Caring for the living environment begins with the realisation that people, nature and the city are inextricably linked. The municipality is committed to a green and healthy Amsterdam within the limits of what is ecologically sustainable, without compromising affordability or housing security for residents. Environmental policy is therefore not an end in itself, but a means of enhancing quality of life, health and future-proofing. By making choices transparently, carefully and coherently, sustainability becomes socially just and supported by the city.

Principles

  • Green Policy: Focus on planetary boundaries. Encourage green roofs and facades without putting pressure on affordability.
  • Landscape and Food: No solar parks in open spaces (but on roofs). By 2035, every resident will have a food forest or communal farm within 2 km.
  • Light pollution: Strict reduction of disruptive fluorescent lighting for a healthy quality of life.
  • Environmental policy must not lead to energy poverty, unaffordable housing costs or loss of housing security. Sustainability must be achieved in a way that is socially just and does not burden residents with insurmountable costs.
  • Local food security is seen as a strategic interest for the city. The municipality supports short supply chains, urban agriculture and initiatives that provide affordable, healthy and accessible food for all residents.
  • Environmental measures are always weighed up against health, safety and quality of life. Policy choices are based on demonstrable effects and take into account the daily living environment of residents.
  • Although national legislation is leading, the municipality uses its discretion to ensure that the placement of telecom installations is carried out carefully, transparently and in consultation with residents.
  • The municipality of Amsterdam guarantees transparent monitoring of PFAS in soil, water and the living environment and actively informs residents about possible risks and measures.

Democracy is not only alive during elections, but also in the daily functioning of the government. The municipality opts for an open, accessible and accountable democracy in which residents have a real influence on decisions that affect them. Transparency, direct participation and comprehensible services are not extras, but prerequisites for trust between the administration and the city. By treating digital and physical access equally, the municipality ensures that no one is excluded from democratic processes or public services.

Principles

  • Direct control: Binding citizens’ assemblies and referendums with clear questions. These are carried out without any dilution of content.
  • Open government: All decisions and contacts with lobbyists are public as standard.
  • Digital and physical accessibility to the government are equal. Residents must always be able to choose personal contact, physical services and understandable communication, without digital systems, accounts or procedures being a prerequisite for access to rights, facilities or decision-making.

Safety is more than enforcement and supervision; it grows where people feel safe in their neighbourhood, trust each other and see prospects in their lives. The municipality has therefore opted for an approach that focuses on social cohesion, prevention and legal protection. Problems are tackled early on and in a humane manner, with an eye for the causes of insecurity rather than merely treating the symptoms. Freedom and fundamental rights form the minimum standard: safety must never be enforced at the expense of human dignity, autonomy or democratic control.

Principles

  • Social Approach: Fewer BOAs (Municipal Enforcement Officers) and repression, more neighbourhood mediation and opportunities.
  • Domestic Violence: Victims should never have to leave their homes while the perpetrator remains. Information centres for emergency assistance in every district.
  • Self-defence: People should not be punished for self-defence or protecting a vulnerable person.
  • Safety begins with social cohesion, trust and visible neighbourhood teams.
  • Proportionality and legal protection are central to enforcement.

Mobility is about freedom: the ability to move around, participate in city life and make independent choices. The municipality has opted for a mobility policy that increases safety and accessibility without restricting or excluding residents. Changes in traffic and transport must be understandable, fair and feasible, with consideration for people who depend on their vehicles. Mobility is not a tool for control or behaviour management, but a public service that contributes to quality of life, accessibility and equal participation in the city.

Principles

  • Safe Mobility: Free local public transport. 30 km/h only where it really serves safety; unnecessary zones are reversed for better traffic flow.
  • Disability-friendly: A comprehensive business case to make the entire city accessible.
  • Concepts such as the “15-minute city” are only acceptable when they increase residents’ freedom and are not used for control, exclusion or restriction of mobility.
  • When making changes to mobility policy, the municipality will provide realistic transitional arrangements, exceptions and customised solutions for businesses and residents who depend on their vehicles, including explicit exceptions to diesel restrictions where these lead to unreasonable or unaffordable situations.

Culture is not a luxury, but an essential part of a living city. It connects people, provides space for expression and contributes to relaxation, socialising and a sense of community. The municipality opts for a cultural environment that is accessible to everyone, in which residents and creators themselves take the initiative and the city is experienced as a shared space. Public space is there to meet and enjoy, with respect for nature, the neighbourhood and quality of life, and without commercial interests taking precedence.

Principals

  • More space for night-time culture and accessible cultural events. Festivals in public parks should be free of charge and respectful of nature. The opening hours of museums and other cultural institutions can be extended in consultation with local residents. Less advertising and more art in public spaces.
  • No permits will be granted for large-scale commercial festivals in vulnerable city parks such as Flevopark and Sloterpark. These parks are intended as green lungs for the surrounding neighbourhoods, not as event venues.
  • Cultural diversity arises from the bottom up, from residents, creators and communities themselves. The municipality facilitates small-scale, accessible initiatives, but does not dictate content or impose cultural or ideological frameworks.

“The true nature of a society is revealed by the way it treats its most vulnerable members.”
— Mahatma Ghandi

This conviction forms the common thread running through this programme. When policy conflicts with human dignity, fundamental rights or security of existence, the municipality unconditionally chooses people. Fundamental rights are not abstract ideals or the final piece of policy, but the hard bottom line of democratic action. The city takes its responsibility seriously and, even in times of pressure, crisis or political temptation, will not take any steps that lead to exclusion, coercion or dehumanisation. Where systems, rules or technologies cross this line, they will be reviewed, not defended.

Principles

We vote against the following policies in the council on the basis of fundamental rights:

  • Discrimination and Exclusion: Policies that lead to the exclusion of people with disabilities, segregation of groups, or institutional discrimination. (NL Constitution Art. 1, UDHR Art. 2, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 5).
  • Dictatorial Policy and Autonomy: Policies that threaten the autonomy of residents or are implemented without support. ‘Nothing about us without us!’ (UDHR Art. 21, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 4).
  • Security of Existence and Exploitation: Policies that threaten security of existence or lead to exploitation. (UDHR Art. 4, 23, 25, Dutch Constitution Art. 20).
  • Freedoms and Rights: Restricting fundamental freedoms such as the right to demonstrate or physical integrity. (ECHR Art. 7, 10, 11, Dutch Constitution Art. 7, 9).
  • Status Quo and Polarisation: Propagating the status quo that perpetuates injustice. (UDHR Art. 28).
  • Digital and technocratic forms of coercion also constitute violations of fundamental rights. Policies that lead to exclusion, behavioural control or loss of autonomy through systems, algorithms or automated procedures are incompatible with a democratic constitutional state.
  • The municipality actively chooses human dignity over system preservation. When rules, processes or systems conflict with human dignity, security of existence or justice, they are revised rather than enforced for their own sake.