MR Brussels Parliament Lists Finalized: Challenges, Surprises, and Expectations Revealed

2024-03-11 17:42:00

Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the MR, and David Leisterh, president of the Brussels MR, spent sleepless nights finalizing the composition of the liberal lists for the Brussels Parliament.

The leading duo, David Leisterh and Hadja Lahbib, has already been announced two months ago. But the party experienced the worst difficulties in resolving the bottleneck of candidates for the top 15 between the numerous transfers from other parties (Bertin Mampake from Engagés, Sadik Köksal, Ariane de Lobkowicz from Défi etc.), the outgoing deputies , and the chef’s surprises.

The traffic jam in the Region, the threat Alexia Bertrand and Youssef Handichi…: the MR still has knots to resolve for its Brussels lists

Vincent De Wolf was expected to be in 3rd position, a place he wanted to occupy in order to position himself as a credible candidate for the post of President of the Brussels Parliament, like Charles Picqué before him. The mayor of Etterbeek finally agreed to push the list, to allow the MR to “save” certain younger candidates. The list which was presented to activists this Thursday aims to better reflect the diversity of Brussels, and to increase the presence of the MR in working-class neighborhoods.

Third position, and this is a little surprise, will be occupied by Anne-Charlotte d’Ursel. The choice is however logical in electoral terms: the Woluwesanpétrusienne had obtained the 4th score on the list in 2019.

The MR uses here the possibility offered by the Brussels electoral regulations regarding the zipper. For second and third places, and these positions only, candidates must not be of different genders.

Another surprise: it is Bertin Mampaka, who arrived from the CDH in 2020, who will occupy 4th place. The MR is betting that the deputy born in Kinshasa will be able to achieve an important electoral breakthrough in the Belgian-Congolese community of the capital, and compete with Brussels alderwoman Lydia Mutyebele, 3rd on the federal PS list.

For 5th place, David Leisterh and Georges-Louis Bouchez pulled a rabbit out of their hat by placing Loubna Azghoud there. This entrepreneur, president of the board of directors of IRISnet, founded the non-profit organization High Her, which aims to support women who wish to become entrepreneurs by helping them raise funds. Loubna Azghoud was deputy chief of staff to Joëlle Milquet, and also worked with Céline Fremault. She had been in the crosshairs of investigators in the context of the file on the disputed collaborators hired in the cabinet of Joëlle Milquet, then at the Interior, before the 2014 elections. The case is still ongoing.

She then launched into entrepreneurship.

Less than 100 days before the elections, Loubna Azghoud and Béatrice Delfin-Diaz are launching a “wake-up call” to the political world and the Belgian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Loubna Azhoud, head of the Women Code Festival, (left) and Elisa Della Faille, an entrepreneur, wants women to get more involved in coding. ©Audrey Morard

Anderlecht’s Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven will be 6th.

Uccloise Clémentine Barzin will be positioned in 7th place, in front.

David Weytsman, leader of the MR in Brussels city, will be in 8th place. Its place has long been in the balance. However, he saw his horizons cleared by the choice of Vincent De Wolf to agree to push the list.

Françoise Schepmans occupies 9th place. The former mayor of Molenbeek was tipped for 3rd place at the Federal, but the arrival of Youssef Handichi led to her repatriation to the regional list.

Anderlechtois Amin El Boujdaini, the man who serves the MR’s strategy to seduce the Belgian-Moroccans, will be 10th. A good place for this first candidate for the Region, which is part of the desire of the MR – criticized by some – to take voters from diversity to the PS, in particular in the north-west of Brussels.

Uccloise Aurelie Czekalski will occupy 11th place, ahead of Schaerbeek Sadik Koksal, a Brussels MP from Défi, who is given, like the following MPs, a fighting place (12).

The MR had obtained 13 seats in 2019 and can hope to do better in June, given the latest polls. “We can estimate that the pot will go up to 11th place, 12th if we get a good score,” observes a liberal source.

The following will therefore have to more or less “make” their seats.

13th place will be for Kristella Bytiçi, who had already presented in lower place in 2019. She will be followed by the former president of Beci, Olivier Willocx (14th).

Amelie Pans, leader of the MR in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert will be 15th. A way for the party to reward an active activist, but also to put forward a candidate that they are preparing for the succession of Olivier Maingain, with a view to the joint elections of 2030.

Geoffroy Coomans de Brachène is a sacrificed figure among the sitting deputies. The Brussels deputy, former alderman in the City of Brussels, will only be 16th, although he had achieved a fairly decent electoral score in 2019. He is paying the price for the policy of renewing the MR list.

Aline Godfrin, political secretary of the president of the Brussels MR David Leisterh, will be 17th, ahead of Louis de Clippele (18).

Latifa Aït Baala is the other sacrificed on the regional list since she only occupies 19th place.

We also find no trace of Brussels MP Viviane Teitelbaum in the first 20 places; since it will push the federal list.

Some of the following places must still be decided, because arbitrations must still be made concerning the places of Etienne Dujardin and Cédric-Pierre de Permentier.

Ariane de Lobkowicz, who came from Défi last September, will be 25th, at the head of the second column. But the MR is betting that it will manage, as in the 2019 elections, to win its seat alone, via its network.

The 71st and penultimate place is reserved for Éléonore Simonet (Woluwe-Saint-Lambert), daughter of the former Brussels minister-president Jacques Simonet.

Vincent De Wolf will push the list to 72nd position.

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