Wavre, a liberal bastion par excellence, led notably for twelve years by former Prime Minister Charles Michel (current President of the European Council), has just experienced a political upheaval of unprecedented magnitude. In Sunday’s elections, the MR certainly retained its first place for… three votes more than Les Engagés. But he lost his absolute majority. And on Tuesday, at the end of the morning, we learned that Les Engagés had reached a majority agreement with the PS and Écolo, returning the MR to the opposition after decades of unchallenged domination. The Engagés had first negotiated with the MR on Sunday, but, “for lack of prospects for change”, according to several contacts, the Engagés team then turned to Ecolo and the PS.
Here are the municipalities, including Wavre, to follow on election night
“Sunday’s result is still a big surprise”continues Carole. “I am surprised that the MR is breaking his facesupports her friend Sandrine. Wavre is like Lasne, it’s all blue. I am not at all excited about this tripartite majority. The Engaged with Ecolo, at the limit. But the PS, no! He is pulling us down, he is pulling Wallonia down. I would have preferred a coalition with the MR and Les Engagés, as at the level of the Walloon Region.”
With or without the MR?
Francis is of the same opinion. “I don’t like the PSthis 88-year-old Biergeois, leaning on a caddy from Delhaize. They think they can do anything because they have long been the first. I don’t like it. The MR is not my party. Me, it’s the PSC (The Engaged Today, Editor’s note). I come from Bastogne, which was ruled by the Lutgens – the father first, the son today. But I would have preferred Les Engagés to ally themselves with the MR.”
gullThe MR outside? Alright. Gorgeous. The city is completely deteriorating. Everything is closed. There is nothing left but drug trafficking and prostitution.
That said, the defeat of the MR is not meant to displease him. “It feels good. We need change, so that it’s not always the same people in power.”
“The MR outside? Very good. Magnificent”exclaims Nicolas, a robust 49-year-old man, on his doorstep, a sandwich in his hand. Take a look in the center. Everything is closed. There is nothing left but drug trafficking and prostitution. I have lived in Wavre for fifteen years. The city is completely deteriorating. There are big security problems. I’m fine, I’m tall. But for women and the elderly, it’s dangerous.”
The friendliness of alcoholics
“There is delinquency. In the evening, the city is dead. We don’t want to leave our children hanging around,” confirms Carole, the lady with the bike helmet. Who also deplores the state of commerce, between the frequent changes of brands and the excessive presence of snacks.
In Wavre, traders feel abandoned: “We are supposed to be the capital of Walloon Brabant, what a joke: everyone is fleeing this city”
The Galerie des Carmes, a shopping center opposite the station, is deserted and – definitely? – closed. Quite a few commercial cells are empty. Some stores did not even open this Tuesday. “We have seen an evolution in recent yearscomments a second-hand bookseller in the pedestrian area, right in the city center. Businesses are suffering due to the drop in footfall. This is a phenomenon that many city centers are experiencing. People prefer to go to outlying areas. The centers are becoming impoverished, they are suffocating, they are losing their soul. There is delinquency. But there remains a certain conviviality here: alcoholics get along well with each other.”he quips.
A customer interrupts the conversation and addresses us: “Say that a citizen is very happy with the change in majority. A Committed-PS-Ecolo tripartite is very good. We need a little less capitalism, less construction and more greenery. The mayor does not deserve to stay.”
The Ombre by Charles Michel
Mayor Anne Masson (MR) visibly crystallizes the tensions. “I think it’s good that she falls from her pedestalsays Carole again, although not hostile to the MR. I’m not a fan of her. She is not close to the people. Paul Brasseur (first outgoing alderman, Editor’s note)he is good. He is active, close to people.”
“I’m surprised that Anne Masson still did so many voices (1,609 preference votes, first score in the city, Editor’s note)“says Sonia, 65, walking her dog in the Bois de la Pierre, a green neighborhood with opulent villas located on the heights of the city. “The team in place is the one that Charles Michel had installed to ensure a possible return, but it is not strong enough to ensure the dynamism of Wavre and it sometimes forgets to ask the opinion of the inhabitants of the old neighborhoods. The result of Sunday’s elections does not surprise meshe concludes. People want change.“
