The objective: to discuss the strategy to adopt in response to the invitations launched by the Brussels trainer, David Leisterh (MR), who called on all the national presidents of the parties, at the French-speaking level, to come and discuss the future of Brussels .
This call triggered the departure of Olivier Maingain on Friday evening (Editor's note: even though no formal invitation had yet been issued). For the mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, the president of Défi decided to register “in dependence on the MR by accepting its logic of placing the Brussels negotiations under the control of the national parties”.
Sophie Rohonyi attended the meeting
The departure of Olivier Maingain did not cause Sophie Rohonyi to deviate from her line. She did indeed go to the Brussels trainer's table this Monday morning, accompanied by Bernard Clerfayt, Brussels minister, as well as Jonathan de Patoul, group leader in the Brussels Parliament. A way for the president of Défi to show that the top of the party supports her approach.
The president's position, this Monday morning, was generally supported by the office, which hardly understood the arguments invoked by Olivier Maingain to justify his departure. A large number of personalities spoke, including almost all of the heavyweights (former president François De Smet, Bernard Clerfayt, Emmanuel De Bock, Cécile Jodogne, etc.) All supported their president's strategy.
“There is a Napoleonic side to Olivier Maingain's maneuver…”points out Emmanuel De Bock, former Brussels MP and unsuccessful candidate in the last presidential election. “He left his exile in Saint Helena and returned to Waterloo to regain power. But we know how this story ends…“
Fabian Maingain, Brussels MP, is the only one to have raised objections, judging that the party had nothing to gain from putting David Leisterh back in the saddle, and above all that the solution could not come through an agreement with the N-VA. However, he did not directly question the legitimacy of Sophie Rohonyi.
No initial hemorrhage, initially
One certainty: Défi loses the mayorate of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. “The elected officials from the mayor’s list in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert will join me”, announced Olivier Maingain to La Libre. A version denied by Sophie Rohonyi. “Some representatives on the mayor's list were shocked to discover in Olivier Maingain's press release that they were leaving Défi. However, they never expressed this wish! It’s extremely serious!”, she assured. However, no more general hemorrhage seems to be feared, at least initially.
gull“There is a Napoleonic side to Olivier Maingain’s maneuver. He leaves his exile in Saint Helena and returns to Waterloo to regain power. But we know how this story ends…”.
Of the five Défi deputies remaining in the Brussels Parliament, at least four support the president: Joëlle Maison, Cécile Jodogne, Jonathan de Patoul and Bernard Clerfayt (who will enter the Brussels Parliament once a government is formed). Fabian Maingain has not, at this stage, called into question his membership in the party, nor threatened any secession. But its future is unclear.
That of Défi, more generally, is hardly less so.
