QA few months after the federal and regional elections, the municipal elections took place this Sunday, October 13. With mainly confirmations and concerns.
1
The PS resists
By keeping the lead in Mons, Charleroi and Liège in Wallonia; in Brussels City, Molenbeek and Saint-Gilles in the capital, the socialist party retains more than symbolic bastions. After the slap of June 9, the PS will be able to say that it maintains its local roots almost everywhere in the country. “This evening, wherever we were the first, the citizens confirmed their confidence in us,” rejoiced Paul Magnette, the president of the PS, citing the examples from Brussels. “And what’s more, we are going to take the mayorship in Schaerbeek.” “The situation is the same in Wallonia: in Liège, in Seraing, in Herstal, in Mons, in La Louvière and obviously in Charleroi,” insisted the president of the PS, concluding: “The blue wave has crashed against the red wall . »
2
The MR and Les Engagés confirm
If the MR did not succeed in bringing down the PS in the large Walloon and Brussels cities it was targeting (Mons, Charleroi, Brussels City, etc.), the party of Georges-Louis Bouchez continues its march forward, in the following on from the success of June 9. Present in the Walloon majority and widely anticipated in the future Brussels executive, the MR will be able to count on a generally strengthened local anchoring at the end of October 13. “It is a confirmation of the results of the month of June for the Reform Movement,” launched the president of the MR Georges-Louis Bouchez. “The PS is losing everywhere, the blue wave continues and there is a succession of waves which ends up eroding even the most solid stones.”
Led by their president Maxime Prévot, largely re-elected in Namur, Les Engagés also confirmed the dynamic of June 9. The centrist party, now in the Walloon majority, is making progress almost everywhere in Wallonia. In Brussels, Les Engagés confirmed in their strongholds (Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Ganshoren), gained votes in most of the municipalities where they ran (Ixelles, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Uccle, Forest, Etterbeek, etc.) and took advantage of their alliance with the MR in others (Watermael-Boitsfort, Schaerbeek).
Also at the provincial level, MR and Les Engagés are making a historic breakthrough in the five provinces in the south of the country. In most of them, the two partners in the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation are able to govern together. 64% in Walloon Brabant, 55% in Namur, 72% in Luxembourg and 50% in the province of Liège. Ultimately, only Hainaut should escape the azure voracity.
3
The PTB ready to rise to majorities
“We are ready.” The statement is from Dirk De Block, on behalf of the PTB, in Molenbeek where Catherine Moureaux (PS) opened the door to a coalition with the far-left party. A first on the French-speaking side. And potentially not the only one, if we are to believe Raoul Hedebouw: “We are eligible to participate in majorities. »
4
Ecolo and Défi sink in
Ecolo failed to halt the fall of June 9. The environmentalist party is losing votes almost everywhere in Wallonia and Brussels and must let its mayorships slip away in Forest, Watermael-Boitsfort, Enghien and Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. Only Doulkeridis, in Ixelles, resisted with 28.4% of the votes, just ahead of the MR (27.7%).
The picture is even darker for Défi: the Mayor’s List led by Bernard Clerfayt suffered a dizzying fall to 5e place with 12.5% of the votes, recording a decline of almost 20 percentage points compared to 2018. The decline is marked in almost all the Brussels municipalities where the party ran, including in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert where Olivier Maingain, if it remains in first place, loses nearly 14 percentage points. Only Sophie De Vos limits the damage in Auderghem. Last bad news for the amaranths: their president, Sophie Rohonyi, only collected 766 votes in Rhode-Saint-Genèse, far from the 2,541 votes of Sophie Wilmès and even less than in 2018, where she attracted 799 votes.
5
“Team Fouad” confirms its breakthrough in Brussels
Out of nowhere during the regional elections, the list led by the former socialist deputy, Fouad Ahidar exceeded 10% in three municipalities and won 28 municipal councilors in the capital. “A great victory” for the main party who already dreams of becoming a kingmaker in Molenbeek, Schaerbeek and why not in the City of Brussels.
6
The earthquake in Ninove
In Flanders, the main shock came from Ninove where, with 47.4%, the “Forza Ninove” list of Vlaams Belang obtained an absolute majority of seats: 18 out of 35, enough to be able to seize the mayorate without a partner. A first for the Belgian far right. Guy D’haeseleer increased his score compared to 2018, with 8,552 preference votes, well ahead of the other candidates. Note that the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office was informed of possible electoral fraud in Ninove and decided to open an investigation.
In Antwerp, Bart De Wever won his bet: the N-VA (37.2%) finished far ahead of the PVDA (20.2%). Conner Rousseau and Zuhal Demir failed to take the lead in their commune, in Saint-Nicolas and Genk respectively. For this first election where voting was not compulsory, many voters did not come: the participation rate should be around 63%.
All results in Flanders.
