This absence particularly irritated Denis Ducarme (MR), who is precisely the president of the parliamentary committee concerned. He demands their presence. “We are in an unacceptable situationhe reacts to The Free. According to the CPAS inspection services, the facts revealed by Pano journalists (VRT), these are not isolated cases of abuse of RIS granting (social integration income). It seems that there is no guideline and that the number of RIS grants is increasing without a home visit, which is nevertheless fundamental.“
For the liberal, it is now important to be completely transparent in this matter and to allow parliamentarians to do their job of monitoring. “On Wednesday, we did not have an overview of the situation after more than 10 hours of hearings in parliament. Because, since Friday, we have been trying to contact the two men but they are not responding. They would be very busy. This is contempt for the House. I am therefore convinced that the two presidents of CPAS had contact with the office of Minister Karine Lalieux (PS, in charge of Social Integration within the federal government). Vincent Van Quickenborne (MP Open VLD, former Minister of Justice) asked her about this, about possible contacts with the two presidents of CPAS, and she did not answer this question. These two local representatives did not decide alone not to come. There was undoubtedly an instruction from their party.“
Beyond the heavy accusations weighing on the Anderlecht CPAS, when will we take an interest in the social workers who are expressing their distress?
Threat of a commission of inquiry
Denis Ducarme asks the socialists to react: “I call on Paul Magnette. As president of the Social Affairs Committee, I ask the president of the PS to instruct his two local representatives to accept the invitation from all the parliamentarians of the committee. If he does not give this instruction, we can conclude that the PS is obstructing the work of transparency in this matter. Given the seriousness of the facts, while an audit of the CPAS of Anderlecht was to take place, if the PS does not react with regard to the two presidents of CPAS, the question of the creation of a commission of inquiry will have to be posed. Equipped with the necessary powers, it will then be able to summon these people as of right in order to hear them.“
“Van Quick” reveals a conversation with Paul Magnette
Will these threats work? No, says Vincent Van Quickenborne, who contacted The Free this Thursday on this subject. According to MP Open VLD, as part of an informal exchange with Paul Magnette in the corridors of the Chamber, the president of the PS told him that the two presidents of the CPAS from Anderlecht would not come to the federal parliament. “They will explain themselves to the Anderlecht municipal council and not elsewhere, he told me. I told him that 70% of the money from the Anderlecht CPAS corresponds to federal money. It is not correct to reduce the facts to a single communal issue“, dénonce Vincent Van Quickenborne.
Contacted about this exchange, the PS spokesperson explains that Paul Magnette insisted to the Open VLD deputy on the fact that a judicial investigation is underway and that the two representatives will collaborate. For the rest, they will explain themselves to the competent municipal authorities in the matter, added the socialist president in his conversation with “Van Quick”.
