2023-06-26 08:10:37
Yesterday evening, a restricted council of ministers was held to discuss the case of Minister Hadja Lahbib, whose explanations on Wednesday in the External Relations Committees did not convince the deputies, including from certain majority parties, Ecolo , Groen, PS and Vooruit. The atmosphere there was, according to RTBF sources, “freezing”. The majority are still looking for a solution to relieve the pressure.
This Wednesday, before the plenary session, the different political groups of the Chamber held meetings.
On the MR side, we are still sticking to our positions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, MR too, did not make any mistakes. She retains all the support of her party. At most, we learned from the side of the MR group, “a form of introspection” might be considered to calm things down.
In the majority, on the side of the socialist and environmental groups, we also camp on our positions. Here, we are still not convinced by the performance of the minister, Wednesday, in committee. There are, it is believed, still far too many unanswered questions.
There is therefore no question for socialists and ecologists to join the simple motion tabled by the Liberals to support the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Socialists and environmentalists expect a strong gesture from the minister. Not sure that an apology is enough, as explained by the PS group leader, Ahmed Laaouej. “Apologizing, she might have done that a week ago. She might have done it yesterday. We saw absolutely nothing“, answers Ahmed Laaouej. “It’s a bit late to apologize, especially now that we see human rights abuses. Because of the visas which were granted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we let in torturers, spooks in Belgium who filmed opponents, human rights activists, whose families are now threatened in iran“, continues the socialist deputy.
We are therefore likely heading towards a new week where the Minister of Foreign Affairs will remain under pressure. Unless by then another solution was found, in the form of a strong gesture like an apology or a step aside.
Behind the scenes, it is also said that negotiations have begun within the majority parties to link the fate of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to other outstanding points, such as points of tax reform.
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