For the moment, the situation is not making much progress. Tensions reached such heights between the negotiators of the MR-Engaged list, the PS, Ecolo/Groen and the mayor’s list (Bernard Clerfayt) that the discussions were put on hold this Wednesday, to calm things down. .
Standoff between the PS and the MR to win the mayorships of Schaerbeek and Forest, with Écolo as arbiter
“There will be no formal negotiations around the table this Thursday either. But I will meet with the heads of the lists bilaterally, in order to see if we can lift any exclusions. Too many little sentences have been said and the climate is not calm enough to sit down at the table“, summarizes Vincent Vanhalewyn, head of the Eco/Green list in the town, who specifies that “the first logic, to follow the voter’s vote, is to take the first three parties to work together: PS, MR and Ecolo“.
They will still have to be able to agree.
The PS, which came first in Schaerbeek, in fact claims the head of the list for Hasan Koyuncu, best score in the municipality.
But the MR, which vetoed the socialist candidate whose “communitarianism” it castigates, claims the Schaerbeek throne for Audrey Henry.
“I dare to hope that in Schaerbeek, in the current discussions, the choices and positions of some are not guided by stereotypes”declared Justine Harzé, second on the PS list in Schaerbeek, on BX1 this morning. If the word racism was not mentioned, several elected officials from the Schaerbeek MR were hurt by the implication.
In Schaerbeek, despite the MR’s maneuver, the PS does not intend to let go of the mayoralty: “We must let Georges-Louis Bouchez box in the void”
This Thursday morning, on LN24, the president of the MR repeated it, recalling that Hasan Koyuncu was at the origin of the invitation in February, among other personalities, of an imam who had recited a surah from Koran from the platform of the regional hemicycle.
“The head of the PS list did not show sufficient guarantees in terms of living together, on the separation between religion and the State”declared Georges-Louis Bouchez. “But in what country are we? Imagine that in France, an imam recites a surah in the National Assembly, it would be a state scandal. In our country, it is almost folkloric. I have no exclusive with regard to democratic parties but, as it stands, I have a major problem, it’s just not possible.”
To deal with these difficulties, will the PS activate the PTB track in Schaerbeek, as in Forest? Ecolo has no exclusive rights against anyone.
