Michel Claise: A Surprise Candidate for Défi Party in Federal Elections

2024-01-05 16:42:00

The first three candidates for the Brussels Region and the Federal will be presented on January 10 by Didier Gosuin, president of the party’s electoral commission.

While the MR announced this Wednesday the poaching of Marc Ysaye, drummer for Machiavelli, Défi could also announce next week the arrival of a surprise candidate.

According to information from La Libre, investigating judge Michel Claise could appear on the party’s federal lists, a priori in third position behind François De Smet and Sophie Rohonyi.

“He has decided to take the plunge and enter politics,” a well-informed source tells us.

A fighting place, at the Federal

It would be a fighting position, since Défi had only obtained two seats in the House of Representatives in 2019. A position in the Region would offer him a deputy seat in a much more certain way, but the skills of Michel Claise agrees better at the federal level.

Nothing has yet been confirmed, however, since the members of the Défi electoral commission must still analyze and validate the various candidacies.

Michel Claise, contacted by La Libre, neither confirms nor denies the information, refusing to make the slightest comment “before any formalization”.

François De Smet, president of Défi, does not comment further.

At Défi, the return to the forefront of the old rivalry between the Maingain and Clerfayt families

Michel Claise should be well received by the party. Recently, the former FDF has suffered from several takeover attempts by the MR on its deputies, and has been mistreated in the polls.

”I will welcome him with open arms. It would be great for the party to be strengthened by a personality of this stature,” a Brussels MP tells us.

The arrival of the most famous investigating judge in the country, aged 68 and recently retired, would indeed constitute valuable reinforcement for Défi, in terms of notoriety and expertise.

A luminary in the legal world

Michel Claise, also the author of several novels, is a leading authority in the legal world. For several years, he has been entrusted with the most important financial and corruption cases, such as recently the Qatargate affair. He has repeatedly alerted public authorities against the risks that corruption poses to the rule of law.

Michel Claise’s proximity to Défi is an open secret. The one who is now an honorary magistrate, and resides in Auderghem, historic stronghold of Défi, was notably present during the last back-to-school congress of Défi in Louvain-la-Neuve, in September.

The proposal, formulated by François De Smet and Sophie Rohonyi, aimed at creating a National Financial Prosecutor’s Office are also the result of discussions with Michel Claise, who has long advocated in this direction, as well as in favor of strengthening the means allocated to Justice.

No formalization should take place before this Wednesday, especially since the party has other irons in the fire.

At the regional level, the party will also have to decide between Bernard Clerfayt and Fabian Maingain, who are both declared candidates to be head of the list in the Brussels Region in the June 2024 elections.

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