Local radio station RTV Maastricht is hosting a radio and online debate on the local elections in English on Thursday and is asking locals for questions for candidates.

The programme, hosted by local news service News in English, will give all the parties taking part in the debate the opportunity to pitch themselves and answer questions on specific subjects, the Maastricht expat centre said.

#Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen in NL are open to all EU & some non-EU resident >5yrs in NL. Want to know more about #Maastricht candidates? We’re hosting an election special 03/03 19.00-22.00 in English. Candidates pitch their manifestos and debate the top topics. Here’s the draw… pic.twitter.com/JlGEpItQuP

— News in English @newsmaastricht (@newsmaastricht) February 20, 2022

The pitches will also be recorded and circulated on social media so that voters can find out more about the 23 parties taking part. The programme starts at 7pm on RTV Maastricht (107.5FM) and on the website.

Debates in English are also being held in several other cities.

In Amsterdam an event involving the five parties forecast to do best – the VVD, GroenLinks, PvdA, Volt and D66 – will take place on March 9 at the Podium Mozaiek in the city’s Bos en Lommer district. Sign up here.

An election themed event was also being organised for international workers in The Hague for March 9 but has since been cancelled.

There have already been debates in Delft, Eindhoven and Groningen.