Time is running out for three Brussels municipalities. Almost two months after the elections, the Brussels municipalities of Schaerbeek, Forest and Molenbeek have still not managed to form new municipal majorities. If no agreement is reached between now and the installation of the new municipal councils at the beginning of December, the re-elected mayors and aldermen will remain in office, even if their current coalition no longer has a majority.
The Minister of Local Authorities, Bernard Clerfayt, however, wants to be reassuring: “There is never a power vacuum in our communities“, he explains. In fact, municipal law provides that re-elected mayors and aldermen remain in office until the new teams are installed. Frédéric Nimal in Schaerbeek, Mariam El Hamidine in Forest, and Catherine Moureaux in Molenbeek will continue to lead their municipalities even without a formal majority. A situation which could complicate daily management, decisions being contested during municipal councils, but which guarantees institutional continuity.
