2023-09-19 09:53:00
The inauguration of the Schaerbeek municipal swimming pool, the Neptunium, sparked a famous outcry at the start of the week because the wearing of burkinis is authorized there. This decision raises several questions, whether with regard to hygiene or neutrality in municipal establishments.
This Tuesday morning, the former president of Défi Olivier Maingain reported that at Poseidon, the communal swimming pool of Woluwe Saint-Lambert (of which he is the mayor), “the wearing of clothing which is detrimental to personal hygiene, such as the misnamed burkini or even Bermuda shorts or shorts, will remain strictly prohibited.”
Contacted by us, Olivier Maingain points out that it is above all a question of hygiene which must be guaranteed. “I do not approve of this Schaerbeek decision for obvious reasons of hygiene. Before entering the water, you must remove your clothes and wash your body. So it doesn’t make sense to let dirty people into the water.”
Then Mayor DéFi analyzes the issue of neutrality which must be respected in public places. “It is the lack of political will in the federal government and other levels of power that is problematic. We must enact clear rules to keep the rise of religious obscurantism in check. There is a real offensive by these groups which prosper following the absence of rules to enforce this neutrality. It’s time to have the courage to say no! We respect everyone’s philosophical and religious conditions but there are places of common life, such as school or a public swimming pool, where we respect the authority of the State which is independent and superior to any influence of groups. religious obscurantists.”
As for Neptunium, the local authorities justified their choice by the desire to “not stop anyone from practicing sport”. For Olivier Maingain, this choice is contrary to the common rule. “This is a false argument, he believes, because the vast majority of people practicing a religion will adapt to the regulations in place in order to practice their sport. Responding to religious imperatives means allowing religious obscurantism to enter where it has no place.”
Does Olivier Maingain not fear damaging his own party, since Défi is a member of the Schaerbeek majority? Cécile Jodogne, the acting mayor, is also an amaranth. “The Sports Alderman is not part of DéFi,” retorts Mr. Maingain. “That is the difficulty, because Ecolo has become the relay for religious obscurantist forces. Which goes once morest the grain of the history of this party, which was attached to the principles of secularism. Ecolo betrayed his principles”, charges the mayor of Woluwe Saint-Lambert.
He then explains the fight to be waged to enforce neutrality in public places. “We must stand up to these parties like Ecolo and the PTB, which have given in to religious obscurantism. To combat this, I am pleading for a common rule, shared by all the management of the Brussels swimming pools, which will reinforce neutrality in common areas. We must fill this legal absence, whether at the level of the federal State or the Region.”
Olivier Maingain also invites the Minister of Sports of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation “to propose a decree to launch the debate. It would be interesting to set the conditions of access to municipal swimming pools, it is within its competence, for it to take the initiative.”
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