According to information from The FreeAhmed Laaouej plans to request this Friday in plenary session the urgent consideration of the proposed order aimed at partially reversing the full decumulation of mandates.
If a majority of parliamentarians vote in favor of this consideration, the text could already be voted on this Friday.
Keep your mayorat warm
“It makes sense to do this because the ordinance is set to come into effect on December 1st. Otherwise it has no effect“, points out a Brussels socialist.
In The Free of November 2, Ahmed Laaouej justified the tabling of the text – filed discreetly by the PS and the MR, at the end of October – by a desire to do “so that the installation of the municipal councils in December can take place in good conditions.”
If this reversal on decumulation is voted on, David Leisterh, future mayor of Watermael-Boisfort, as well as Vincent De Wolf (MR), mayor of Etterbeek, as well as Ahmed Laaouej (PS), mayor of Koekleberg, could well and take the oath as mayor this December 1st. This would allow them to remain impeded mayors during the legislature. And to keep this mandate “warm”, if they decided (or were forced) to give up their seat in Parliament, or their post as minister, during the legislature.
In Wallonia, “partial” decumulation has become part of political customs
The opposition of the Engaged
The regional MR-PS-Engagés axis is, however, not united behind this text. As soon as the announcement of the submission of the text, which had leaked in The EchoChristophe De Beukelaer, Brussels leader of the Engagés, was opposed to it.
How does the PS then hope to obtain a majority to pass its text? The socialists will first need a simple majority to obtain emergency consideration. If they obtain it, they will still need to obtain a majority in each linguistic group to have the text adopted.
David Leisterh will not support the text
It is not certain that the PS can count on the complete support of the MR, particularly due to the cooling of relations between David Leisterh and Ahmed Laaouej. According to our information, there will be no voting instructions from the MR group, but group leader David Leisterh will not support the text.
gullIt’s this kind of small arrangement, to resolve a few personal cases, that the people of Brussels no longer want to see.”
The Committed, on the other hand, remain more unfavorable than ever. “This text is fundamentally bad. Decumulation is a measure of good governance in Brussels. Why? Because the Region has supervision over the municipalities. It is therefore healthy not to have deputies who are at the same time mayor or alderman “I refuse that some people try to weaken this progress in good governance.”assures us Christophe De Beukelaer. “But this text is especially bad in form. It is not aimed at the general interest but rather at the interest of a few who want to be able to be mayor or alderman in title while retaining the status of deputy, with all that that implies. It’s this kind of small arrangement, to resolve a few personal cases, that the people of Brussels no longer want to see.”
It seems certain that the PS will have neither the support of Défi nor that of Ecolo, at the origin of full decumulation.
“This Friday, rather than looking at who votes what, we will have to pay attention to those who abstain or are absent. I wonder about the attitude that the elected officials of Team Ahidar and the PTB will have, who might not embody an authentic left…”, predicts a Brussels source. “I remind you that the PS and the PTB are negotiating together in several municipalities.”
Indirect support from the PTB
A prediction confirmed by the PTB. “We will abstain if there is a vote,” Françoise De Smedt, head of the PTB group in the Brussels Parliament, told La Libre. “As we have already said and voted previously, what is essential for us is the decumulation of salaries. We are opposed to politicians accumulating remuneration. We do not have a position of principle on the full decumulation of functions. This must be analyzed in a concrete manner each time.”
Ahmed Laaouej and the PS will therefore be able to indirectly support… the PTB.
The account could be difficult to achieve for the Socialists, especially since they will also have to count on the support of the Flemish parties, to obtain a majority in the two linguistic roles. The plenary session on Friday will be worth the detour.
