2023-09-05 05:42:09
Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne is in bad shape. All the Flemish press is asking the question this morning: did he lie by saying that he knew nothing about the excesses at his birthday party? Several of his guests had urinated on a police suit. New images challenge his version.
I have to pee
You may have in mind the beginning of the movie Very Bad Trip. There’s a scene where three friends wake up in the blackout with a tiger in the bathroom after a drunken night out. The Very Bad Trip of Minister Vanquickenborne does not reach the heights of the film, but finally, the birthday party of August 14 of the Minister of Justice will reveal surprises. Surveillance footage shows at least three revelers urinating on the police suit present to defend the minister, who has been threatened with death several times by drug lords.
The minister defended himself by saying: “I was not aware of these facts, which I condemn by the way.” The problem is that the minister obviously forgot some details. He did not find an unknown baby in a closet, he did not tear his teeth to win a bet, nor did he marry a prostitute dressed as Elvis like in Very Bad Trip but the VRT was able to view video surveillance images where, according to our colleagues, he leaves his house, pretends to urinate too, takes a selfie, laughs and opens the door of the police suit. In short, the images show that the Minister does not seem to be totally unaware of the “urination incidents,” to use the time-honored expression of the police reports. Here he is at the heart of the new school year in full “pipigate”, in all the pages of the Flemish press.
Political danger?
Can these “urination incidents” endanger Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne? Drinking pints and urinating anywhere is unlikely to destroy a career in Belgium. The images of Théo Francken urinating in the street in Brussels, very opportunely appeared recently, show it. Former Secretary of State N-VA defended himself by regretting his gesture, but asking for understanding, after all, he said it was a drunken evening, after a heavy and stressful period. He admitted to having stupid behavior. I don’t want to condone this, but at the end of the day, I’m just human.
Vincent Van Quickenborne’s problem isn’t so much his image or the opposition, it’s the police unions. Very upset against the government, their main demands for wages and revaluation of the profession have remained a dead letter. So there is a means of pressure for the police. For the police unions, these incidents demonstrate an increasingly widespread lack of respect for the function. If even the friends of a liberal minister from the beautiful districts of Kortrijk, in the heart of Texas in Flanders, no longer show respect for the police, where are we going?
Law and order
The opposition in Flanders is beginning to follow this discourse. The resignation is openly demanded by the Vlaams Belang. The N-VA is a little more reserved but says that if the minister has lied, he will have to resign. What is at stake here is the “Law and Order” posture, the security posture that the right-wing parties are fighting over. The urination incident discredits the VLD and offers the N-VA and the Belang the opportunity to restore their image with the police electorate. There are “Ik moet pipi doen” which can be expensive.
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