Belgian Political Parties and the Countdown to Elections: COP 28, Alexander De Croo’s book, Israeli Ambassador controversy, and more

2023-12-03 17:57:36

Political parties are counting down the days to the next elections. On the program for our campaign diary this Sunday: the climate, the book by Alexander De Croo, and the mention of a certain Marc Dutroux, where we least expected him.

And we start with the summit of the week, it is COP 28 in Dubai. It’s almost a Belgian story. A conference on the future of the planet in the city of the petrodollar, with a president who runs an oil company. They are really strong in the UAE.

And Belgium is, of course, participating in this “Conference of the Parties” with a delegation of 170 people. A Belgium which is still struggling to agree on the objectives of reducing CO2 emissions, as Jean-Marc Nollet recalled on Wednesday in our “Signature” sequence. “The problem is there. The problem is Flanders. The Flemish government says: ‘We don’t want to make 47%’. Wallonia, Brussels, the Federal government are doing the job. Flanders says no. And when Flanders is at 40%, what does it say? She sends the invoice to Wallonia and she sends the invoice to Brussels. And that, we say no, sorry, we say no“, declared the co-president of Ecolo.

The First publishes his book

The release of the week is that of Alexander De Croo’s book, which launches into the campaign. And to present this book, a press conference is organized with great people… and lots of super positive signals. For example, with the presence of Mark Rutte, the big loser in the elections in the Netherlands.
The title of the book: “The best is yet to come”. This suggests a mixed record so far. And then, a book that doesn’t yet exist in French. But it was the Prime Minister’s promotional tour.

Slippage by the Israeli ambassador

Now let’s move on to the controversy of the week. It was born following an article in the Flemish press concerning the release of Israeli hostages. A release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The daily newspaper De Morgen makes a double page with the headline: “Israeli or Palestinian, it’s always someone’s father or child“. This pushed the Israeli ambassador in Brussels to attempt a risky comparison with Marc Dutroux.

The Belgian government reacted, outraged. The ambassador amended and apologized. “I’m sorry I used that name. It was inappropriate. But I was also extremely shocked when I opened De Morgen. I saw a terrorist with a Hamas flag on his shoulders, next to a photo of a little girl holding a blue teddy bear. And that subtitle: following all, they are all someone’s son. One of them is a criminal. You would not have seen Mr. Vandecasteele and Assadi (Editor’s note: Assadollah Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison for preparing a terrorist attack in France) in a photo in De Morgen, with the caption: ‘After all, they are all someone’s sons“, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu then expressed.

Dumpling in Verviers

And then, one more word regarding the dumpling of the week. It concerns Pierre-Yves-Jeholet, the minister-president of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Look at this photo taken in Verviers on Thursday evening.

The signature of the Liberal Minister-President is projected on the town hall. What a beautiful tribute a few months before the elections! It was during a sound and light show. So remember the resignation of environmentalist Sarah Schlitz for putting her personal logo on public communications. So here, scandal or no scandal?

Here are the explanations from the main person concerned. “As soon as I saw that, obviously, I was surprised because there had been no request to that effect and as of last night, well before the controversy, I obviously said that I wanted to withdraw not only the mention of my function, but also the name, which was done directly“, declared Pierre-Yves Jeholet.

When the people naturally pay homage to you, it’s even more beautiful…

Come on, this is where our campaign diary ends. You have something to discuss as a family. And don’t forget, we vote in 189 days.

Campaign diary

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