As a reminder, an appeal had been filed before the jurisdictional college by three heads of the list: the socialist Philippe Boïketé, the ecologist Ahmed Mouhssin and the leader of Team Fouad Ahidar, Ibrahim Dankuş. The three men had pointed out an abnormal number of proxies (6.3% of the votes against 1.4% in the neighboring town of Schaerbeek for example) and irregularities during the election of October 13.
Tuesday, November 19, the jurisdictional college (whose members are appointed by the Brussels parliament) agreed with them. The election results were annulled. 116 proxies were considered “irregular” and 243 others like “suspicious.” Numbers large enough to potentially change the distribution of seats in the future municipal council.
Elections before January 10
As soon as the college’s decision was announced, the outgoing mayor, Emir Kir, targeted in the appeal, proclaimed his determination and his incomprehension. “The difference in votes is such. We don’t understandassured Emir Kir last Tuesday. Saint-Josse is disturbing.” The mayor was for the first time a candidate without the socialist banner. He was in fact excluded from the PS in 2020. But without the socialist locomotive, he managed to win an absolute majority on the evening of October 13 (50.5% of the votes and 17 seats out of the 29 on the council).
The PS, which came second, had 19.9% of the vote, followed by Ecolo-Groen (15.5%). Team Fouad Ahidar, with 5.1%, did not win a seat in the chamber. Note that taking the results of October 13, the Team Fouad Ahidar list was 54 votes short of obtaining a seat at the expense of the mayor’s list, 127 votes for the Ecolo-Groen list and 247 for the PS list.
The Mayor’s list had 8 days, from notification of the college’s decision, to file an appeal before the Council of State against the cancellation of the results. Otherwise the election must be re-run within 50 days. The elections should therefore take place before January 10. “According to our administration’s calculations, the first possible day will be January 5. But it is the government which will draw up the calendar“, said Emir Kir.
The appeal procedure before the judicial panel therefore ends there. But another complaint was filed, this time with the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office, for electoral fraud. The latter could lead to criminal proceedings.
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