In Brussels, after Elke Van den Brandtit’s now Fouad Ahidar which must try to form a majority on the Dutch-speaking side. Do you believe it?
For the moment, in Brussels, we are witnessing a huge joke. Everyone is waiting for the municipal elections. But even after the election, no party will agree to form a coalition with Fouad Ahidar, because no one considers that he is serious and that his group is stable. And then, by bringing him into a majority and letting him become a minister, the other parties would associate with him and legitimize him. This would be a mistake, especially for socialists.
Is he not already legitimized now that he is a trainer?
Yes, the Dutch-speaking interlocutors in Brussels tell me that Elke van den Brandt made a huge mistake in ceding the initiative to him. It gave him credibility which was not at all necessary just before the municipal elections.
Fouad Ahidar does not seem to benefit from it. He didn’t deliver the note he promised, he didn’t organize a meeting. He doesn’t seem to be trying to show off…
I think that he and his team are not capable of formulating proposals and completing this note. Everyone is already surprised that he managed to organize himself to win an election, as he did in June. His disorganization is public knowledge. But, today, he takes advantage of his status: he presents himself as a trainer, he appears to his activists as the one who has the initiative. This helps with the municipalities. Its goal is not necessarily to succeed in its regional mission…
Some consider Fouad Ahidar as a danger for our democracy given his comments on the separation between State and religion. What do you think?
It’s difficult to judge. His official program is quite close to that of Vooruit, of which he was a member. But when we see his campaign on social networks and the messages he sends via Whatsapp to thousands of Brussels residents, it’s very different. His comments are often radical or misleading towards other parties. When personalities like Ans Persoons or Elke Van den Brandt – with whom he must negotiate in Brussels – express their uneasiness about attacks against them, he responds that he is not aware, that it is his collaborators . No other party therefore has confidence.
Do you expect to see him triumph in the October 13 poll ?
Yes, he will certainly ride on his success of June 9. But, in the municipal elections, unlike the regional ones, the effect of French-speaking votes on the quota reserved for the protection of the representation of the Flemish minority in Brussels does not play a role. On October 13, no list will therefore have such an advantage. But Fouad Ahidar will try to achieve success by placing municipal councilors in as many localities as possible. This will give it visibility for six years.
Are you surprised to see the important place given to Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a campaign for local elections?
No. We observed the same phenomenon during the elections of June 9. However, Belgium does not have a major role to play in the Middle East… But the PTB, the PS, Vooruit and the ecologists understood that the subject particularly affected minorities and different ethnic groups. These parties are all pulling each other down, with exaggerations and ever stronger comments. An election does not necessarily revolve around themes that are linked to the skills for which we are going to vote. We also always choose with our guts.
The controversial release of Georges-Louis Bouchez on pagers and the “stroke of genius”which has earned him numerous criticisms, can it ultimately be favorable to him?
Of course. He uses the ingredients that led him to success last spring, that is to say provocation and the image he gives himself as the only bulwark against the left-wing parties. We witnessed something quite similar last June with Pierre-Yves Jeholet when he suggested to a PTB elected official to “return to his country”. At no time did the Liberals apologize after the controversy or change their position. Bouchez must have seen that it had worked and he said to himself that it would be interesting to repeat this sequence.
In Antwerp, the candidate PVDA Jos D’Haese campaigned in mosques… Given the figures of latest pollscan we say that this way of doing things works?
Antwerp is a big city, with significant diversity. There is a strong Moroccan community. We clearly see in the polls and in the results of the previous election that the PTB was a hit within this community, in particular thanks to candidates who are well anchored there. This allowed the far-left party to gain votes in Groen and Vooruit. Issues like Gaza risk further strengthening this success.
Bart De Wever should he be worried?
No. Not for election night anyway. But the next day may be complicated for him. He will have two immense tasks that would normally require months of work: the formation of a federal government and an Antwerp coalition. As for Antwerp, it is difficult to predict who will emerge as the winner because the N-VA understood that there was an opportunity to be seized in the face of this rise of the PTB. Bart De Wever now suggests that it is him or the communists. As a campaign slogan, it is very effective. The president of the Flemish nationalists likes to have a very clear and very threatening enemy to seduce the undecided electorate. But we must not forget that Antwerp remains an important stronghold for Vlaams Belang. The risk would be to see the extreme left and the extreme right obtain so many votes that the largest city in Belgium would become ungovernable.
We keep saying that the communitarianism is above all a Brussels problem but is it not ultimately a problem of big cities?
Yes, without a doubt. The debate on ritual slaughter does not live in Flanders as it does in Brussels because it has already been resolved in the north of the country. But other subjects stir up discussions, such as the neutrality of the State and the wearing of the veil at school. The problems are the same in big cities.
Let’s return to the regional level. Given the blockages, the N-VA has a good chance of integrating the majority in Brussels. Could this be a historic turning point?
No doubt, but the N-VA is not coming to the negotiating table demanding major community reforms. Let’s not forget that the party had already agreed to put the community in the fridge by joining the federal government in 2014. We will now have to see Groen’s attitude towards the N-VA. Brussels MP Celia Groothedde is in conflict with her own president, Nadia Naji, on this issue and has threatened to leave the group in the event of an alliance with the N-VA.
