2023-12-26 10:00:00
The DH offers you this first episode of the new La Libre series: “This moment when they learn that they are ministers (1/5)”
There are these long, anxious evenings that some elected officials spend, waiting for the fateful phone call from their party president. To announce to them that, yes, they will indeed be ministers. That finally, they will reach the holy grail of many political men and women.
Sometimes the phone does not ring, even though they expect it… For Nawal Ben Hamou (PS), designated Brussels Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities and Housing, it is precisely the opposite that happens. It was produced in the heat of an evening in July 2019.
”It was July 19, precisely. It was 10:20 p.m. I was with my husband and my son. We were busy having dinner. It was late, but it was summer and it was really hot. And then, I see on my phone the name of Laurette (Onkelinx, then president of the Brussels Federation of the PS, Editor’s note) appear. A call. At the moment, I just say to myself: ah, here. But without suspecting anything, not even for a single second,” remembers Nawal Ben Hamou. Laurette and I knew each other well since I had worked alongside her at the federal level. In 2014, I won the 5th Brussels seat, which was unprecedented for the PS in the Chamber. But in 2019, I was not re-elected and I found myself with nothing since I had resigned from my police position. So I found myself deep in thought regarding what I was going to do. I was thinking of resuming my studies in political science.”
”I was shaking… From fear, from emotion, from a mixture of everything…”
Nawal Ben Hamou, then 31 years old, picked up the phone without seeing anything coming. “There, Laurette said to me: there you go, I wanted to tell you that I am appointing you Secretary of State in charge of Equal Opportunities. We need renewal, youth, we need a woman. I’ve seen you evolve, I’ve seen you grow. I believe in you, you will get there. But we will have to work, work, work.” At the moment, I was amazed, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was trembling… From fear, from emotion, from a mixture of everything… My family was surprised, proud, they mightn’t believe it. I come from a working-class neighborhood. I didn’t have a higher education, and no one back home was involved in politics. At that point, we truly arrive into the unknown. I didn’t know what to say to Laurette. I was touched that she thought of me and trusted me. I really didn’t want to disappoint her. And it still matters to me today, even if we have less contact. She’s a great lady. I also think that she left too soon and I told her so.”
The choice of Nawal Ben Hamou, a former administrative executive at the police, hired as a trade unionist at the CGSP and from the northern district, ticked several boxes: a woman, bilingual French-Dutch, who brings renewal, and whose profile reassures the secular fringe of the PS. But in politics, strategy is not everything. The human aspect also plays a role. “I was hesitant to talk regarding it. But that evening, Laurette said to me: I see myself in you.”
At the time, however, the press did not mention Nawal Ben Hamou among the ministers, while the names of Fadila Laanan, outgoing Brussels minister, Caroline Désir or Rachid Madrane, members of the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, were readily cited. When his appointment was announced, there was total surprise, including in the ranks of the Brussels PS.
”Earlier in the evening, I had greeted Laurette. She hadn’t let on anything. She had kept it a secret, without telling anyone,” continues Nawal Ben Hamou.
This “coup” from Laurette Onkelinx, on the verge of retiring from active politics and management of the Brussels PS, will shake the walls of the Federation.
The Brussels PS is consumed by quarrels
At the time, internal criticism was quite virulent. Nawal Ben Hamou took the place that belonged to other more deserving and experienced socialists, such as Fadila Laanan and Rachid Madrane, we then heard internally.
Some Brussels socialists even claim that this appointment of Nawal Ben Hamou is the last act of an old political quarrel between Laurette Onkelinx and Elio Di Rupo, who would have imposed Fadila Laanan on him under the previous government.
This designation will have profound repercussions, still palpable today. Rachid Madrane will run in the internal elections to the Brussels PS a few days later, under the label of Laurette Onkelinx’s successor, once morest Ahmed Laaouej. He will be beaten by 6 votes. At the end of the December 16 congress, in a very tense atmosphere, Rachid Madrane announced that he would not run in the next elections.
”I hope that with the holidays all this will calm down and that we will be able to resume in a positive way. Our strength at the PS is that when we are in working order, we are a war machine, and no one stops us on the ground,” says Nawal Ben Hamou.
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“Laurette tells me: you read the government agreement, you have all night, and tomorrow you arrive with a smile. And you are ready. And that’s what I did.”
The Brussels socialist is, however, far from these considerations, on this evening in July 2019, as events continue to follow one another. “I had to read the government agreement in a few hours. It was not my level of power and I was handling other federal files. Laurette tells me: you read the government agreement, you have all night, and tomorrow you arrive with a smile. And you’re ready. And that’s what I did. I arrived fresh, even though I hadn’t slept. All night, I prepared, also for interviews because I knew that I would be in great demand, being the surprise of the boss.”
The matter, however, does not end there.
”Actually, I changed my mind”
“The swearing-in was scheduled for 2 p.m.,” recalls the socialist. “At noon, Laurette calls me and says: in fact, I changed my mind. We will still give you accommodation. You have to have influence around the government, and with equal opportunities, you won’t have any influence. You need the budget to impose yourself.”
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“At the beginning, I said: Laurette, that’s not going to do it, I don’t think it’s a good idea, I know absolutely nothing regarding it”
The challenge is enormous. Housing was, and remains, the priority of the PS within the government of Rudi Vervoort.” At the beginning, I replied: Laurette, that’s not going to do it, I don’t think it’s a good idea, I know absolutely nothing regarding it,” continues Nawal Ben Hamou. “She tells me: If it’s going to do it, you’re going to work, you’re going to learn and you’ll see that it’s going to do it. And she hung up. So I take the oath, I arrive at the office, on the floor that was indicated to me, Boulevard du Régent. And then, we start recruiting staff right away. For my part, I’m starting to study the housing code to familiarize myself with the files. We spent the remaining four weeks of summer working. At the end of August, meetings with housing and equal opportunities stakeholders were already scheduled. I was immediately in the heat of the action.”
From the outset, Nawal Ben Hamou must deal with what she calls “media a priori”.
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A young woman, without executive experience, is more quickly accused of incompetence than a man.”
”The first articles were hard on me. I said to myself: they are going to be wrong. A young woman, without executive experience, is more quickly accused of incompetence than a man. You have to work 20 times harder than the others, because with the slightest mistake, you won’t be missed. Take Adrien Dolimont, he arrived in the Walloon government and was immediately accepted, without being under fire from criticism. From the start, I have carefully measured everything: my outings, my work, everything has been methodical. I made sure not to go off the road.”
However, water has flowed under the bridges. “Today, the outlook has changed because we have an assessment. When people ask us what we have done in 4 years, we can go on and on. And obviously that builds respect.”
”Brussels Minister-President, one day? “Why not ? I’m 35 and I have time”
The Brussels resident, who will be fourth on the regional list, would see herself returned to the Brussels government in 2024. “We first have to go through the election box, but I am a candidate.” With, one day, the ambition to be Minister-President of Brussels? “Why not ? I’m 35 and I have time.”
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