Will the PTB lead, for the first time, a French-speaking commune after the elections of October 13? The party has hope. But what would such a city look like?
Three days before the municipal elections, the PTB believes in its ambition to govern, for the first time, a French-speaking municipality. Sofie Merckx, 5th on the PTB list in Charleroi, ensures that since 2018, the party has “more experience“: “We also have our first participation in the management of a municipality, in Zelzate, in the North. We really draw a positive outcome from this experience.“, she replies.
But, if the PTB gets a municipality, what would it look like? Martin Buxant first questioned Sofie Merckx about wearing the veil or a religious sign at the municipal counter: “Indeed, this is something that can be discussed“.
A small tax for them helped to relieve all citizens
Should richer people pay more to take out their trash? “No, we are more in favor of the idea of a tax shift, as we did in Zelzate. We realized the fact that there was an environmental tax for self-employed people and citizens. We were able to reduce while putting a tax on the surface area of very large companies ArcelorMittal, for example. And so, that was 0.09% of their profits. A small tax for them helped to relieve all citizens“, arguments to candidates.
In a municipality managed by the PTB, should people at the CPAS carry out work of general interest, for example, cleaning the streets? “We are not for work of general interest. We are in favor of street cleaning by city personnel. You have to pay people to do this work. Now, it is certain that at the CPAS level, we are of course there to activate people, to help them find work“, replies the PTB group head.
We are more in favor of community policing
What about surveillance cameras? Sofie Merckx says “why not“, while specifying that the PTB is “not a big fan of that” : “We see that this is not very effective. We also need police officers to monitor all these cameras. Today, what we see is that ultimately, the crime is filmed, but it is not prevented. So we are more in favor of local policing, on the ground, in fact, than cameras, but we will not remove the surveillance cameras all the same.“.
Would the city center of municipalities managed by the PTB become pedestrianized? “It depends, I think, from city center to city center and from situation to situation. “We still need citizens to be able to travel by car, especially when public transport is not yet up to par.” Sofie Merckx brings up the idea of relief parking and free public transport to the city center. “Giving a general answer for all the municipalities is still complicated“, she admits.
They must also be able to accommodate their children
Regarding nurseries, where places are rare, what does the PTB offer? Should priority be given to children of working parents? “No, I’m not particularly for that. I find that today, we also ask job seekers to find work, to do training, so they must also be able to accommodate their children.“, she reacts.
Finally, Martin Buxant ends with the ban on fireworks. “The question you are asking me is not obvious because I know that it is widely questioned. It’s very beautiful, but it’s not good for animal welfare, among other things. I believe that at this level, each municipality should make a compromise between the beautiful fireworks and the other consequences“, concludes the guest.
sofie merckx ptb municipal elections 2024
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