2023-11-04 12:34:00
An activist from the start and inseparable from Bart De Wever, the one nicknamed the “Thatcher of Wilrijk” rose through the ranks in parallel with the rise of the party. At the peak of her career in 2014, the Antwerp resident received more than 160,000 votes. Today, the party is bringing in new faces. From her perch, the President of the Flemish Parliament observes, remembers… and has not put her tongue in her pocket.
For La Derniere Heure, she delivers one of her rare interviews in French-speaking Belgium.
First woman to be minister-president in Flanders in 2019. An honor?
“I’m not the biggest feminist in the world. You need the right woman or man in the right place. I have a lot of respect for the struggles of women who fought for eligible places. But in 2023, in as a woman in a prosperous region like Flanders, we have nothing to complain about. Proud to have been the first minister-president? As a historian, yes. In this way I will also enter the books of ‘history.”
Your best moment in politics?
“When I was minister, I was able to free up additional budgets for social housing. I myself grew up in social housing. I saw what a springboard it was. If our mother had had to spend more in rent, life would have been impossible for her.”
Was your childhood complicated?
“My mother found herself alone with three daughters, nine, twelve and fifteen years old. I was the one in the middle. The father disappeared. So my mother had to work double shifts and worked herself to death for us , in the cleaning sector. A physically very heavy job. We never complained because we knew that our mother did everything she could. I started working when I was 15. When I was 18 and during my studies, I had a full-time job at Delhaize.”
Circumstances which conditioned your political commitment?
“Mmh, no. I was Minister for the Fight against Poverty and president of CPAS in Antwerp. I saw a lot of allowances given to 18 year olds. But I never thought: ‘ha me, I ‘had to work, do the same!’ It’s not because I’ve done something that I expect everyone to do it, but on the other hand, I would like my children to make the effort, because they are growing up in a completely different environment than me. They play basketball at a high level. But I wish they would work too. Even just a little, to learn the value of money. But then they would have to put sports aside. “
You have been nicknamed “the Thatcher of the Scheldt”. Do you like the name?
“When you see everything Thatcher was able to achieve for her country, I don’t find it too bad. Of course, everything wasn’t good, but that’s always the case in politics. Is this nickname negative? No! A strong woman is better than a weak woman.”
Back in 2018. Your former relationship with Tom Meeuws, current socialist alderman in Antwerp, hit the headlines in Flanders. How did you experience this?
“Unheard of! It was absolutely irrelevant. Everyone already knew. This story dated from 2013, Meeuws was not yet in politics. I had done nothing wrong. I have the right to fall in love. If afterwards the person becomes a candidate for Vooruit, it doesn’t matter. My private life was thrown into the street for no reason.”
During a photoshoot, you described the Belgian flag as “vod”, namely “torchon” or “rag”. Regrets ?
“Yes, I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t my most intelligent statement. It has to be put into context, in the euphoria of the moment. I had just taken the oath and we were taking a photo. J I saw the flag on the cabinet, although usually it’s not there. Yes, it was stupid. It’s not because I don’t feel Belgian that other people can’t, them, to feel Belgian. I hurt some people by saying that, and it was absolutely not intentional.”
Do you feel especially Flemish, Belgian, etc.?
“Antwerp, because I was born there, grew up there and live there. Then Flemish, because I am flamingo and, for me, Flanders is much more important than Belgium.”
Why this aggressiveness of the N-VA against French speakers?
“The opposite also exists. I find the French speakers very sympathetic. But when we look at the electoral results, the difference is big. In Wallonia, it goes from the left to the extreme left. In our country, from the right to the extreme right, and a bit of center. How can we reconcile at the federal level the vote of the Walloons and the vote of the Flemish? Dat gaat gewoon niet! Belgium is just the sum of two democracies. When we say that we want more skills and confederalism, it is also a good thing for Francophones, who will also be able to carry out the policies they want to carry out. I find it legitimate that the PS says that it does not want to limit unemployment benefits over time. No problem , but Flanders can also legitimately say that it does not agree.”
Will you be a candidate in 2024?
“We’ll see, I’ll do what the party asks me. But not at the federal level. My heart is at the Flemish level.”
Is an N-VA-Vlaams Belang coalition possible in 2024?
“I am against the cordon santé, because I do not find it democratic. Or if it exists, why is it not applied to the extreme left and the PTB? A coalition, Belang does not want it, and they do everything to make it impossible. They are in such a comfortable position. Belang shouts things even though they know full well that it is illegal and just impossible. They say for example: no foreigners in social housing . But it is contrary to the Constitution, and they know it. To govern is to take responsibility. Why would they do it since, currently, they are enjoying success and getting rich without doing anything?”
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You knew the N-VA as a small party. What memories do you keep?
“The breakup of the Volksunie (in 2001) was not at all a pleasant moment. We only had one deputy: Geert Bourgeois. We knew where we came from, because the Volksunie had been great in its time, and we hoped to resuscitate. The atmosphere was friendly, but combative. Those who experienced the Volksunie split will never forget this period. When we experienced the N-VA with a single deputy, we keep our feet on the ground . Unlike some who arrived when the party was already big.”
Are you nostalgic for this period?
“I don’t miss having just one seat. But on the other hand, I miss this aspect of a small, friendly group. Because the party, naturally, has become very large and professional.”
“Bart always makes the same jokes”
Friends since university, the two Antwerp residents are inseparable from each other.
In 2005, a dozen trucks were chartered, heading to Strépy. In their coffers, a quantity of fake banknotes representing financial transfers from Flanders to Wallonia. On board one of these vehicles, the young Liesbeth Homans alongside Bart De Wever. The political spectacle remained engraved in the history books… and in Homans’ memory as his funniest memory in the company of De Wever, his partner in crime from the university benches.
“Bart drove our van,” she says, not stopping herself from laughing. “We were at Place des Barricades, in Brussels. At one point, Bart turned, the van behind him too, and scratched the facade of a building. He then started to swear… but in such a funny way that it was impossible to tell. don’t laugh. Let me clarify: there were no injuries. Just the facade, and we sorted that out later I think. But this way of exclaiming to the point of bursting out laughing and not knowing stopping, that’s really Bart. I hope he always keeps his humor because it makes him unique.”
You have known De Wever for years. How to describe it in a few words?
“Loyal and intelligent. He always wants the best for others. But he has trouble breaking bad news. Because he has too much empathy.”
Has it changed with power?
“No, Bart still makes the same jokes. He’s certainly gotten older, so have I. We met when we were in our twenties. But his humor has remained, and it’s really important to, when you’re as long as he has been in politics, remaining humorous without falling into cynicism. In any case, he has not become embittered.”
Who will be the future president of the N-VA?
“I think succeeding Bart will be a very difficult, if not impossible, task. These are such big shoes to fill that no one in the party is rushing to do it. Everyone is saying, ‘I couldn’t do it too although Bart’. But hey, Bart can’t stay there forever.”
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Who will be the future Flemish minister-president? Zuhal Demir, Matthias Diependaele?
“I won’t comment on that. I think Jan Jambon did a great job in a difficult period. It will be up to the party to decide. But first let the voters express themselves.”
Who is your favorite French-speaking politician?
“Rachid Madrane, the president of the Brussels parliament. I got to know him as president of the parliament during the conferences of presidents of assemblies. With Stephanie D’Hose, we are the only two Dutch speakers. I do well in French, but Madrane always makes the effort to answer me in Dutch. I also hear from my fellow Brussels N-VA deputies that he is a good president, who acts seriously. He is kind, charming and friendly. Yes, it’s a PS, but hey…”
What do you think of Georges-Louis Bouchez?
“I think it’s good that he appears in the Flemish media, even if he does it in French. He is of course in a party that I will never be part of, but I think he brings a bit of spice to the street of the Law. However, I am not saying that I would like to work with him. I think it is difficult to conclude agreements with him, which are then respected. But in politics, een woord is een woord.”
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