The formula is invariable: “I swear loyalty to the king, obedience to the constitution and the laws of the Belgian people.” This Monday, 48 of the 49 municipal councilors elected in October (Fouad Chamas being absent and excused) took the oath to be officially installed.
It is customary for a person taking the oath to raise their right hand. But this is not a legal requirement in Belgium, as in most states. There is therefore no “legal or regulatory” requirement regarding the choice of hand.
On Monday, half of the elected representatives of the PTB group (Sophie Lecron, Medhi Salhi, Céline Fassotte, Nina Delhaye and Antonio Gomez Garcia) chose to raise their left hand. Just like the now Vert Ardent advisor, Sarah Tshinguta Mussenge.
There may be left-handed people. This way of doing things can also represent a deliberate choice to mark a difference with traditional norms (which favor the right hand), symbolizing a position or an alternative. “It was a really cool way to stand out. A way of asserting that our political opinions are on the left“, explains one of them, PTB Antonio Gomez Garcia. “There wasn’t really an exaggerated intention about it.“
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