2023-10-25 19:30:00
The sequence promised to be terrible. The parliamentary committee this Wednesday could have signed the end of the adventure as Minister of the Interior for Annelies Verlinden. Finally, the bubble burst. The head of Belgian security provided answers on the work carried out by the services under her supervision before the terrorist attack of October 16. These answers seem to have satisfied the deputies. The Lassoued page will therefore be turned on the political level.
Information that fell just before the joint Interior, Justice and Migration committee could have shaken Minister Verlinden’s defense. It turned out that the police had received a request for the extradition of the terrorist Abdesalem Lassoued on August 22, 2022 in addition to the “red notice” from the Tunisian police (July 2022). The federal police directly transferred the extradition request to the FPS Justice, which received it, but did not act on it, explained the minister. The terrorist had therefore not come under the radar of the Interior, but Justice had not decided to follow up on it.
Resignation of Van Quickenborne: “One can imagine that he resigned in advance, knowing that other hiccups could be revealed”
The N-VA, which was pumping up its muscles before the session, quickly dropped the matter. “The N-VA is totally soft today,” the majority remarked. MP Theo Francken, for example, quickly left the committee, well before its end. “The Minister of the Interior is drowning the fish,” a member of the nationalist team summed up for us.
This commission, under the threat of calls for resignation, was an opportunity for the different parties to put certain demands back on the table. Environmentalists and socialists have pointed out the lack of resources for the various services concerned (prosecution and police). Liberals have put migration back on the agenda, emphasizing the need to enforce orders to leave the country more quickly and harshly.
Note that in the previous days, Vooruit and CD&V had also fueled the migration debate in Flanders, reviving the idea of authorizing home visits and the confinement of children.
Attack in Brussels: after the resignation of Van Quickenborne, all eyes turn to Verlinden
On Wednesday, the CD&V united to defend its two weakened ministers, Annelies Verlinden and Nicole de Moor (Asylum and Migration). “We are all responsible,” summarized Koen Geens, the former Minister of Justice, affirming that no service had failed at its level, but that all services had failed collectively.
The decision not to sacrifice the Minister of the Interior was taken ahead of the parliamentary session, we learn. The CD&V had a joker in its pocket. If the Liberals had been too insistent towards the Secretary of State or the Minister of Police, the Christian Democrats would have demanded a hearing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib (MR). The day before, the centrists were indeed wondering about the role played by this ministry in which the extradition request had been received.
At the end of the session, only Vlaams Belang still demanded the resignation, not only of Annelies Verlinden, but also of the entire federal government through an online petition. No party followed this request.
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