2023-12-07 08:15:06
François De Smet, the president of DéFI, was the Alex Reed of Matin Première this Thursday. He answered questions from Thomas Gadisseux. He reacted in particular to the motion tabled at the end of November by Ecolo-Groen aimed at authorizing the wearing of convictional symbols within the municipal administration of Anderlecht. This motion was not approved in its initial version. Another version of the text – previously proposed by the PS-Vooruit-Engagés group – was approved.
In this file, François De Smet insists: “I did not speak of Islamism, I spoke of political Islam and that is a very precise definition for me. What do I call political Islam? I call on the desire of certain groups and certain individuals to bring religious interference into political debates, in this case on Islam.“
“It is also a method consisting of saying that we must use the flaws in rights and freedoms to bring regarding a precise discourse – which I call relating to political Islam – which is to express the policies of neutrality and secularism. are cheesy and conservative at best, racist and discriminatory at worst“, continues the president of DéFI.
François De Smet denounces the fact that, in Anderlecht, “Ecolo tried to build an alternative majority with the PTB. A method that he considers “serious on any subject, even outside of convictional signs“. He adds : “We will fight so that this revision of the work regulations does not take place until 2024 [année des élections, NDLR].“
We will see with whom it is possible to constitute secular majorities or in any case ones which no longer undermine neutrality.
The president of DéFI then asks: “How is it that, for decades, Christians, Jews, those who are trade unionists, those who have political convictions, have submitted without problem to the rule of neutrality of appearance and that for a religion it Should we question everything? I don’t think it’s okay.“
The year 2024 will be an election year at all levels of power. In this context, François De Smet expects “a real moment of truth”. “We will see with whom it is possible to constitute secular majorities or in any case which no longer undermine neutrality“, he says.
Will François De Smet participate in the march once morest anti-Semitism which will be held this Sunday, December 10 in Brussels? Yes, he replies, affirming that “it’s important to go“. He then reacted to the words of Raoul Hedebouw, the president of the PTB, who declared this Wednesday on La Première that he would not be present.
The PTB has become a compass which indicates south on the values.
The president of DéFi attacks: “I heard Raoul Hedebouw on your antenna saying that he would not go. I find it dramatic. But the PTB has become a compass that points south to values. It’s important to go there. On October 7, never before have so many Jews been murdered since the Second World War and in such barbaric conditions.“
He pursues : “Notwithstanding what we can obviously say regarding the way in which Israel responded, the aspects of international justice which will also have to be addressed one day, there is nothing to be done. Jews all over the world, and therefore in Belgium, are afraid and I believe they are right to be afraid. And we, the Belgian authorities, the political parties, must respond to that, we must stand alongside them and refuse any anti-Semitic speech and obviously abstract it from what is happening in the Middle East. And so, for that reason alone, I hope that there will be a lot of us on Sunday.“
The MR and Western Sahara
François De Smet also reacted to the latest issue of the #Investigation show broadcast this Wednesday evening. The RTBF investigative magazine highlighted the connections between the MR and Western Sahara, a territory under Moroccan occupation. In the fall of 2022, Georges-Louis Bouchez’s party made a series of official declarations and on-site trips.
“I have never had a phone call or pressure from the Moroccan embassy, for example, on Western Sahara. I watched your report and all the same, I find it quite curious and intriguing to see the number of parliamentarians who are going to visit Morocco but especially Western Sahara, a contested territory whose right to self-determination is recognized by the United Nations and which is administered today by Morocco. All the same, there are clarifications to be obtained from Belgium’s position, which I will do with Hadja Lahbib as soon as she can.“, he explains.
The president of DéFi concludes that he finds the Belgian position “blurry” in this file”. Even if he finds “precious“that Belgium can have a position on international issues. He concludes: “But I think there is a duty to provide information. […] We must be in a dialogue with foreign embassies. It’s normal for party presidents to receive ambassadors, for example. It’s part of the game. But I believe that we have to build a Chinese wall when it comes to the interests of our country.“
1701940582
#François #Smet #DéFI #wearing #convictional #signs #Anderlecht #religion #question
