2023-09-09 05:40:00
Almost three months after his departure from the Brussels government, Pascal Smet returns to a hot topic in the news but also to his political future.
What do you think of the Brussels issue that is making the news: security at the Gare du Midi and at the Gare du Nord?
Even before the holidays, I said to Rudi (Vervoort): “We have to do something”. I felt the problem coming. Rudi Vervoort told me that he would convene a taskforce on the subject in September. One thing must be resolved at the Gare du Midi, as at the Gare du Nord: the presence of all these undocumented people. This is the real problem: there are undocumented immigrants who fall into crime and to this is added the problem of drugs around train stations but also metro stations.
What do we do then?
People who find themselves in stations without documents must be helped when they have health or psychological problems. And after that, you have to expel them very actively.
We rarely hear this among French-speaking socialists.
I hear that from Philippe Close (PS, mayor of Brussels). For too long we have turned a blind eye to reality.
Nicole De Moor (CD&V), Secretary of State for Migration, has decided to no longer accommodate single men.
It’s a renunciation, which comes on top of that from a Christian Democrat. They forgot where they came from…
The MR accuses Vervoort of having lacked leadership on the Gare du Midi issue. Who is responsible for the situation at Gare du Midi?
Rudi’s problem is that he is sometimes too discreet about what he does. But he does things. The federal state has a vital role to play. The Brussels Region too, and the two must collaborate. The fact that the federal government does not take its responsibilities seriously in terms of welcoming asylum seekers and removing undocumented immigrants is causing the situation to deteriorate. And Brussels becomes the scapegoat. We must look at the crux of the problem beyond superficial discourse: the presence of police officers, who depend on the federal government, and the removal of undocumented people. We can also move forward in a more pragmatic way at the Gare du Midi.
Comment ?
You have to clean every day, continuously.
Aren’t we doing it already?
No, not enough. Because the Gare du Midi is dirty. The answer is simple! We need to set up a task force. During my vacation, I even hesitated to tell Rudi Vervoort that I wanted to be the coordinator. I’m not joking. You need a project manager to take charge.
”I would like to be president of the Brussels Parliament”
What are your plans for 2024?
I want to represent myself, but it is clear that Ans Persoons must be at the top of the list. Personally, I would like to be president of the Brussels Parliament, with my 20 years of experience. Why not, for the first time, a Dutch-speaking president? It would be a great signal from Brussels. It would still be logical, we already have a French-speaking minister-president. I would like to modernize Parliament, which is not currently the heart of democracy, and that is serious.
Parties like Open VLD and Défi are calling for an end to the guaranteed representation of Dutch speakers in Brussels. Do you agree with that?
I’ve been saying this for 20 years. The real problem in Brussels is that there is a democratic deficit. True Dutch speakers make up a maximum of 8 to 10% of Brussels residents, but they have a large part of the mandates, perhaps 27%. And at the same time, 25% of residents are European Union nationals who do not have the right to vote. It’s undemocratic. I also plead for bilingual lists, and no longer multilingual lists. On the other hand, given the Belgian context, we must maintain guaranteed representation of Dutch speakers, but it may be less than three ministers out of eight. Another point: we need more municipalities, we can invent some. The European district could be a new municipality. For the rest, municipal borders must be reviewed on the basis of territorial and socio-economic logic. Look at the North district, it’s three municipalities, come on, it’s crazy! Finally, there are too many politicians in Brussels: 1,000 in total. The pool is too small to have 1,000 quality people.
According to Bart De Wever, French-speakers will be required to negotiate a reform of the State in 2024, because Brussels and Wallonia are in debt, and therefore weakened.
The real issue is not Flanders against Wallonia and Brussels. The real danger for Brussels is the coalition of Flanders and Wallonia against it. The only way for Brussels to emerge a winner is to reorganize itself. The Region is not functioning well, there is a problem of efficiency in the Brussels administration. However, not everything is negative in this city. At the Brussels Urban Summit, foreigners were amazed by how Brussels has changed. There is a real dynamic. But we can do much more. The Belgians have a great asset in the world, and that is Brussels. But we ch… about Brussels in Flanders and Wallonia.
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