Köse thus announces to La DH that he has “nothing to declare about the MR. I remain 1030 Together. I simply support a majority which includes the PS and the MR and without Ecolo. But the question of the mayoralty must be settled between these two parties. It is not up to us to decide this. We will support an agreement between the two. Still to our colleagues at La DH, Georges Verzin adds that the two will sit “as independents”. And to insist: “Madame Henry has 10 seats. There is no eleventh”.
Result in fact, the MR returns to 10 seats, against 10 also for the PS of Hasan Koyuncu. The latter therefore regains control in the negotiations. Which are confirmed as tense in the City of Donkeys. Indeed, while negotiations are taking place in all directions, a demonstration of support for Koyuncu took place at Place Colignon, in front of the municipal house. The message is clear: the demonstrators do not want the MR. “Total support for Hasan Koyuncu, our elected mayor!”, we can read on the banners, as reported by the Belga agency. “What we are asking is that we respect the choice of the voter and democracy,” explains Jamila, nurse and socialist activist. Regional deputy Sekvet Temiz (PS) is also among them: “People came here of their own free will, driven by a feeling of injustice. They ask that the voter’s choice be respected.”
The respective weight of the mayoral candidates leans theoretically towards the socialist: Hasan Koyuncu gathered 3832 votes out of 51,319 ballots in Schaerbeek (7.47% penetration rate), against 2615 for Audrey Henry (5.10%). If a PS-MR/Engagés (in cartel)-DéFI-1030 Together team is possible, the socialists are also exploring the PS-Ecolo-DéFI track, to which a 4th party (PTB? Team Fouad?) should give weight otherwise Schaerbeek risks remaining ungovernable for another 6 years. Hence the significant weight, and the pressure, that 1030 Ensemble takes on with its two small seats.
