“I also had my fears when I was in the majority with (former mayor) Paul-Olivier Delannois,” recalls Ms. Ladavid. “I only know Marie-Christine Marghem from the outside, where it is true that she can have a position that can be haughty and disdainful. But we have never considered her as an adversary at the local level. I am going to learn to know it and we will see if it works. If it does not, we will not remain in a majority where our political project cannot be developed,” she assured.
Last Sunday, Ecolo felt despised by his former socialist partner. “We were denied all afternoon even though we had worked well together for six years. We were told that we were not needed since we had no relay in the Region” , deplores the head of the list. “So we very quickly understood that we weren’t wanted. At the end of the evening, we were finally called to add more, but we are not stopgaps. With our partners, no one will have the majority within the college, dialogue will be essential, it is a big change compared to the previous situation.”
Having lost almost half of its seats compared to 2018, Ecolo could have chosen the opposition.
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“At 9:30 p.m., we were preparing to go see our members to tell them that we were going into opposition,” reveals Ms. Ladavid. “And then, the phones heated up and we found ourselves in this majority agreement. The opposition did not scare us, but we know that it is in a majority that we have the most possibilities to develop our project.”
Since the new majority was revealed, the environmentalist leader has been the target of inappropriate, even insulting, reactions. “I don’t call myself a victim, I understand that some people are angry. There needed to be a moment of anger, but we are already at peace.”
