2023-11-28 17:58:00
The question of the place of signs of conviction in the administration constitutes an important dividing line between parties.
After having fought to move the lines at the Stib, environmentalists want to go one step further, this time in the municipality of Anderlecht.
The Stib will authorize the wearing of the veil in its company, under certain conditions
Even if it means going through force by joining forces with the PTB, via an alternative majority.
A motion, originally tabled by Écolo-Groen, a majority member party, must therefore be submitted to the municipal council for a vote this Thursday. The text requests authorization to wear convictional symbols in the municipal administration of Anderlecht “without exception”.
In practice, the motion deletes several paragraphs from the administration’s work regulations, including the one which “prohibits any distinctive sign, act and/or word, which may reflect any political, philosophical or religious affiliation”.
The proposal is far from being trivial: it goes much further than the positions taken by Écolo and the PS at the regional level, notably at the Stib.
Écolo and the PS had in fact reached under this legislature, at the cost of painful compromises, official positions pleading for the authorization of convictional signs in the administration, except in functions of authority, and/or in the event of contact with the public. The Anderlecht motion is no exception.
”Yes, we are moving away from the regional Ecolo line, but we are innovating with a proposal co-constructed at the administration level. The methodology was approved by a large working group made up of 37 workers. The report they submitted includes the authorization of convictional signs,” points out Nadia Kamachi (Ecolo), Equal Opportunities alderman. “I would not understand if municipal elected officials did not follow an opinion emanating from the workers of our administration”.
“A pioneering text in inclusion”
This approach, if it has not yet been duplicated in other municipalities, has not however been done behind the back of the party. Co-president Rajae Maouane takes on this disruptive initiative, likely, if it passes, to move the lines at other levels of power.
”Everything was done in consultation with the Brussels region and the national co-presidency. We are moving forward because we are a progressive party. This text, if it passes, will be a precursor in the inclusion of people wearing the veil, who suffer from discrimination,” assumes Shahin Mohammad, head of the Ecolo/Groen group.
The fact remains that the tabling of this motion set fire within the Anderlecht majority (PS/Vooruit/Les Engagés-Écolo/Groen-Défi).
Les Engagés and Défi dissociate themselves
The Engagés and Défi have already dissociated themselves from their majority partner, in substance and in form. “I deplore that Écolo was unable to make any compromise on such a fundamental subject,” asserts Sofia Bennani, head of the Les Engagés group.
“The way in which this text is brought regarding is also unfair,” adds Nicole Bomele, Défi municipal councilor.
PS and Ecolo contradict each other
The position of the socialist partner PS is more nebulous. The name of Lotfi Mostefa, leader of the PS group, appears on the list of co-depositors of the motion that La Libre was able to consult. “Until Friday, the text was validated by our socialist partners,” assures Nadia Kammachi (Ecolo).
“Contrary to what has been written, this motion is not co-signed by the PS at this stage,” assures Fabrice Cumps (PS), mayor of Anderlecht. The PS defends once morest any backpedaling.
”My position is that defended by my party at the national level. We are in favor of authorizing signs in the administration except for authority functions in contact with the public. Écolo seeks to create a diversion because their unpopularity is immense with a large part of the population, because of Good Move,” adds Lotfi Mostefa, leader of the PS group, who denies having given his agreement to co-sign the text. “Ecolo is even behind certain associations, which are exploited. It is such a crude maneuver that their motion also goes beyond the official Ecolo program which makes the difference between back office and front office.”
This is clearly not the cordial understanding within the Anderlecht majority.
The environmentalist motion puts the PS in difficulty. The PS has little desire to reawaken internal tensions on the issue of secularism, a few days following the departure of Julien Uyttendaele.
Julien Uyttendaele distances himself from the PS: “Important figures from the party summoned me to a sort of people’s court”
Passing a text on the basis of an alternative majority, with the PTB, can also threaten the stability of the municipal college. “The PS supported the motion too quickly. We see that it is not unanimous among them, they will now want to amend it or postpone it,” comments Giovanni Bordonaro, leader of the PTB in Anderlecht.
gull
There is quite unhealthy electoral competition taking place around convictions, all under the growing influence of the PTB.”
”It’s unheard of in my political career to see a party (Green) force the tabling of a motion like this. What happened at the municipal council was a mini-coup d’état,” regrets Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven, leader of the MR and former mayor of the municipality. “There is quite unhealthy electoral competition taking place around convictions, all under the growing influence of the PTB. A sort of pressure also exists on this subject through a petition which is circulating.”
Thursday’s municipal council promises to be electric.
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