2023-12-18 18:47:00
Their common point: they all supported Ahmed Laaouej for president of the Brussels federation in 2019, against Rachid Madrane. We are assured, there were other meetings with other representatives. But the symbol represented by the presence of these six heavyweights from the Brussels PS is powerful.
Time passes and tension rises in the party. Until this Saturday morning, when the big congress of the Brussels PS finally opens, in the Ihecs buildings, supposed to validate the heads of the list.
Rudi Vervoort is all smiles
Rudi Vervoort takes the microphone, all smiles. The Brussels Minister-President announces the pairs who will lead the party in June 2024. It will be Ahmed Laaouej and Karine Lalieux at the Region, Caroline Désir and Ridouane Chahid at the Federal. Rudi Vervoort does not say it, but he himself will be 3rd in the Region, where he is aiming for the presidency of the Brussels Parliament. However, this prestigious position is Rachid Madrane who occupies it.
Ahmed Laaouej proposes to vote.
Rachid Madrane explodes. “Aren’t we debating? We are not in Moscow or North Korea. Disappointed with his place (5th in the Region), he speaks. “The distribution of places was done between us” after having “gathered six people for a meal which lasted until the early hours”.
“We are not in North Korea!”: it is war in the Brussels PS, Rachid Madrane gives up being a candidate in the elections
“It’s okay Rachid, stop watching”
“Oh, it’s okay Rachid, stop your cinema,” says Lotfi Mostefa, group leader in Anderlecht. Ahmed Laaouej orders him to keep quiet, and “to respect comrade Rachid and his right to express himself”. Rachid Madrane’s speech therefore continues, incisive and vengeful, for several more minutes. Rudi Vervoort, in particular, takes his place.
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“It is not unlikely that the MR will be the first party in 2024.
Rachid Madrane then mentions the latest polls, bad for the Brussels PS. “It is not improbable that the MR will be the first party in 2024. And that the PTB to our left will hurt us very much,” he says. In the House, our opponents include prominent and popular figures. I’m thinking, for example, of the Belgians’ favorite woman, you’ve seen the polls: Sophie Wilmès. We must therefore be able to count on candidates who have legitimacy. However, André Cools said it, when the class struggle gives way to the struggle for places, we lose.”
The current president of the Brussels Parliament then announced that he would not run in the elections. Then, he leaves the room, followed by a handful of activists – notably Véronique Jamoulle, Brussels MP. Consequence: the Brussels PS decides to repatriate Fadila Laanan, although announced second in Europe, on the regional list.
Véronique Jamoulle leaves the congress
The tension remains palpable at the congress. Lucien Rigaux, constitutionalist, denounces the internal procedure as a delegate of the Etterbeek section “Democracy is not a suspense film where we are happy to have names at the end,” he says. -he to the assembly. “Don’t make me believe that it’s worse today,” contests Kenza Yacoubi, former Brussels MP.
Crisis at the Brussels PS: “Philippe Moureaux was criticized for being a great dictator, but at least he respected the internal rules”
Philippe Close, Vice-President of the National PS, then spoke to calm things down. “A year and a half ago already, I realized that the interest of the party was not for me to be head of the party. list. Because I have confidence in our leaders, he confided to the assembly in a soothing tone. Making lists is always a pain. And no, it didn’t happen in one meal. The procedure, which was requested of us by Paul Magnette, is a bit iconoclastic compared to the past. For strategic reasons, the president wishes to present all the pairs in a single national congress (Editor’s note: which took place the next day, this Sunday). It’s true that it disrupts operation. There will be disappointments, it’s a complicated list.”
Usually, in fact, it is up to a committee of wise people to issue a proposal for a complete list. Only the heads of the list, traditionally, are proposed by the presidency of the Brussels federation. This year, Ahmed Laaouej, however, benefited from more latitude since he proposed the first and second of the lists, while informally announcing, to Rachid Madrane and others, some of the following places.
The socialist lists were finally approved by the activists almost unanimously.
The return of the clan war?
Congress has reopened wounds. “Philippe Moureaux was sometimes criticized for being a great dictator, but at least he respected the rules…” confides Véronique Jamoulle, support of Rachid Madrane in 2019.
Is this the return of a clan war? It’s very unlikely. Laurette Onkelinx withdrew. His son-in-law Julien Uyttendaele left the Brussels PS. Catherine Moureaux is in difficulty in Molenbeek.
The sick leave of Catherine Moureaux, mayor of Molenbeek, is extended
Ahmed Laaouej, moreover, tried to bring together some former opponents, placing Karine Lalieux second in the Region and Nawal Ben Hamou in 4th position.
“If Rachid had been second in the Federal, we would not have heard him,” summarizes a socialist elected official. Rachid Madrane, deep down, would be especially disappointed with his bad place. As for his “clan”, it no longer exists.
Ahmed Laaouej and his club of six
That leaves Ahmed Laaouej, supported by the five Brussels barons, who heads the federation.
His power, inevitably, is temporarily weakened by poor polls, the rise in power of the PTB, and the marginalization (then the departure) of Julien Uyttendaele as supporters of state neutrality within the party.
Ahmed Laaouej and his list, of course, will have a lot to do to counter both the PTB and the MR, and its strategy in working-class neighborhoods, but also the unexpected candidacy for the Region of Zakia Khattabi, considered more formidable than Alain Maron. Mayor Koekelberg, despite everything, maintains his chances of becoming the next minister-president of Brussels. Despite the tensions, the PS remains a war machine difficult to counter when it reaches its campaign rhythm.
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