2023-11-18 10:42:12
Melissa Depraetere, 31, takes the head of the Flemish socialist party, a few months before the elections, replacing her confidant and friend Conner Rousseau, who resigned Friday evening.
Melissa Depraetere was appointed by the Vooruit party office this Saturday morning, interim president. His objective: to calm as quickly as possible the political storm which surrounded his predecessor, as the elections approach. Friday evening, the young (29 years old) president of Vooruit, Conner Rousseauhad announced his departure, following the controversy resulting from his racist and sexist statements.
The 31-year-old West Flemish woman was seen as the leading candidate to succeed Mr Rousseau as party president, although Freya Van den Bossche was also briefly tipped as a potential successor. As the elections approach, Melissa Depraetere actually has only one mission: a return to calm. When he left on Friday, Mr. Rousseau indicated that the agitation around his person had “distracted too much attention from the essential”.
For Melissa Depraetere, the objective will be to keep on board the new voters attracted by Conner Rousseau.
For Melissa Depraetere, it will be a question of keeping on board the new voters attracted by Conner Rousseau and of ensuring that future electoral debates do not focus solely on the “satellization” of his predecessor. At the same time, it will be able to continue the renewal operation started by the latter within the Flemish socialist party.
Working-class origins
Depraetere is considered a confidante of Rousseau, but the two have very different backgrounds. While Conner Rousseau was born into a political environment, Melissa Depraetere grew up in a working-class family and was the first in her family to attend college. Immediately following her studies, she worked as a parliamentary assistant to Alain Top, then MP for Vooruit, originally from Depraetere’s hometown of Harelbeke.
After s.pa President John Crombez awarded her second place on the parliamentary list, Ms Depraetere became an MP herself in 2019. When Meryame Kitir became Development Minister a year later, Melissa Depraetere resumed her role as group leader in the Assembly. In this role, she specialized in socio-economic issues, notably through recent proposals aimed at encouraging banks to increase interest rates on their savings accounts.
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