28 seats in municipal councils in Brussels. This is the score for Team Fouad Ahidar. But in Flanders, the list only obtained one seat, and failed in Antwerp and Ghent.
He had already caused a sensation during the elections in June in Brussels, and he did it again during the municipal elections this Sunday. Fouad Ahidar left Vooruit in December 2023 after comments deemed anti-Semitic, following which he launched his own party, called Team Fouad Ahidar.
These lists therefore presented themselves for the first time in the municipal elections this Sunday. And in Brussels, they managed to make a breakthrough in several constituencies.
- 14% of the votes Anderlechtwhich makes seven seats.
- 14.6% to Molenbeekor seven seats.
- 12.7% to Throwor five seats.
- 10.8% to Brussels Cityor five seats as well.
- 5% to Saint-Jossewhich does not grant a seat.
- 8.5% to Schaerbeekor four seats.
- 2.9% to Woluwe Saint-Lambert (0 seats).
- No list in other municipalities.
It now remains to be seen whether Team Fouad Ahidar will be invited to negotiations to form a majority. In Anderlecht, this will not be the case, because the socialist mayor Fabrice Cumps is reappointed, at the head of a coalition with the common list of the MR and the Engagés. In Molenbeek, socialist Catherine Moureaux invited the PTB to negotiate. But if this goes wrong, hands could be extended towards Fouad Ahidar’s party, who knows.
But not in Flanders
The Fouad Ahidar lists also appeared in Flanders. But they were unable to reproduce the Brussels feat. The group, which in June had risen to second place in the Dutch-speaking college in the capital, only managed to take one seat, and that in Vilvorde. It barely exceeds the electoral threshold of 5%.
HAS Antwerpthe party was seen as direct competition to the PTB-PVDA which targets the same electorate. There is also a large population of Arab (and supposedly Muslim) origin, which is the target audience for Team Fouad Ahidar. The latter campaigns on religious issues such as wearing the veil or ritual slaughter. But the list only received 1.5% of the votes, compared to more than 20% for the Labor Party. HAS Thinkingit’s only 1.4%. In the end, Ahidar’s initiative in Flanders will not have really paid off.
