Van Rooij asked this question from the audience to the panel members of the VVD, Volt, PvdA, GroenLinks and RE:SET. He himself had not received an invitation, he says disappointed by telephone afterwards. The organization - United Nations Student Association Maastricht and the Young European Federalists - said before the event that they had not invited everyone because it would be too busy. In front of the auditorium perhaps, because in the stands (about 25 people) and online (at the time of writing 104 views) it was very quiet.
Before Van Rooij's question, the housing shortage among students had alreadycome up a few times, but a lively discussion never got off the ground. The purpose of the evening was to inform and not to debate, according to the organization. This resulted in little action. But that voting is important, even for international students who only stay for a while, they all agreed on. They also represent the foreign students who come after them, they unanimously agreed.
The answers to M:OED's question: the VVD and Volt are against a 'student quota'. The PvdA and GroenLinks are indeed in favour, and were therefore put on the spot by Van Rooij. Maren Slangen of the PvdA: “We are very much aware that it is not a positive or popular measure, but we see it as an instrument to monitor the livelihood for all people in the neighbourhood. But it should not be an isolated measure. The PvdA is also for student campuses in Maastricht.” Alexander Lurvink of the new party Reset “is disgusted by the parties that dare to talk about livelihood while last September and October there were still about four hundred students living in hostels or B&Bs. Some students have been harassed or even abused.”