This September 11 at 8 p.m., it will be the turn of candidates from the different lists of Andenne to go under the grill. To announce this debate and explain the issues, Boukè produced a video capsule of nearly two minutes. But several elements made the mayor wince.
Assimilated to a mafia member
“In Andenne, we have the jefe, the big shot, the godfather, the unbeatable man on the local political scene: it’s Claude Eerdekens, the mayor”explains the Boukè journalist to set the scene for this teaser which is intended to be offbeat and humorous.
This description of “godfather” did not fail to make Claude Eerdekens (who will push the PSD@ list in the elections) grind his teeth rather than make him smile.
“We added the music from the Francis Ford Coppola film with Marlon Brando, so for people, I’m like a mobster, he explains. I find this unacceptable! It is an attack on my reputation by a public service media. A community television must respect neutrality and not be at the service of a part of Andenne politics.”
For Claude Eerdekens, this video constitutes “a brutal and targeted intervention” in defiance of the decree on audiovisual media, the rules of journalistic ethics and the rules in force during election periods.
In this video, the urbanization project of Anton’s countryside is also mentioned. It is an ultra-hot topic of the current legislature, which will still animate the next one. Here too, the pill does not go down.
“To illustrate this, Boukè projects images that do not correspond at all to the Local Orientation Plan (SOL) where we see 20-storey towers that are excluded from Anton. This is a manipulation of the information”deplores the mayor, who therefore did not hesitate to make his discontent known.
The Andenne municipal council therefore sent a letter to Boukè asking him to remove the disputed video.
Valentine Lissoir, director of Boukè, provides details: “We adopted a new tone on our social networks and we actually received a formal notice from the college regarding this video. We did not remove it but suspended it as a precaution while awaiting the opinions of the Association of Professional Journalists (AJP), the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) and the Council of Journalistic Ethics (CDJ) regarding the content, she explains. According to the initial elements, we are within our rights. However, with the board of directors, we decided to suspend it so as not to add fuel to the fire on the eve of the debate. We felt that it was relevant to take a step back so that this video would not be exploited by one or the other.”
For his part, Claude Eerdekens denies any form of control. “This is not censorship, contrary to what some people say. “To denigrate and harm a person’s honor by spreading information that one knows to be false is intolerable in a democracy. It is insult, defamation and slander.”
“Stink bombs”
The mayor regrets that others have distributed the video. This was the case of the minority group, AD&N, and the non-profit organization Touche pas à ma campagne (TPMC). “This is unacceptable and is clear proof that this media is subservient to the opposition, believes Claude Eerdekens. If he were not in favor, the AD&N group would not broadcast this video. This demonstrates the collusion between Boukè and the opposition.”
In this election campaign, there are “stink bombs” permanently which only serve to fuel a deleterious climate, according to the mayor. “That we oppose programs, reports, projects… we can accept it, if need be. But receiving attacks all the time is no longer possible, he says. Since the creation of the ASBL TPMC, there have been constant attempts to harm me, to smear me. I have been accused of corruption, taking interests, etc. However, I am an honest man. I work 60 hours a week for the City. I do not receive a single €1 in bribes. So I cannot stand these attacks on my honor, it is scandalous! When it reaches sewer politics, it makes me want to vomit.”
Claude Eerdekens nevertheless confirms his presence at the Boukè debate this Wednesday. “I am going there calmly to debate positively the future of Andenne”he concluded.
Hugues Doumont: “Nothing to write home about”
The municipal council also sent a letter to AD&N and the non-profit organization Touche pas à ma campagne (TPMC) asking them to remove the video from their channels.
For Hugues Doumont (municipal councillor and 2nd on the AD&N list), this kind of video is part of the game. “Asking Boukè to withdraw it is an attack on freedom of the press, which is treating the subject with humor to announce today’s debate, he explains. “Apart from the reference to the Godfather, there is nothing to get excited about.”
For him, this form of language can be found in an electoral context. “We have to learn to live with this and not censor everything. This is not a good sign for democracy, he says. Threatening to file a complaint and to remove subsidies is censorship, as Claude Eerdekens did with the ASBL TPMC, the poet Timotéo Sergoï or elected officials of AD&N. Everything is subject to complaints and threats. They must be particularly tense in the opposing camp to get to this point.”
He adds that this video does not pander to the minority, as the mayor suggests, and rejects any collusion. He specifies that it was not AD&N that removed the video from its Facebook page, but rather Facebook itself (if the content was flagged as inappropriate) that removed it.
