2023-11-18 10:17:00
Melissa Depraetere was appointed interim president of the Flemish socialist party Vooruit following the resignation of Conner Rousseau on Friday evening. The latter had been singled out for several weeks for his racist remarks towards the Roma community made last September while he was drunk in a cafe in Saint-Nicolas.
On Thursday, the Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published extracts from the report drawn up by the police during the incident. Conner Rousseau had described the Roma in particular as “brown waste”. Several voices have since been raised within the party to demand his withdrawal from the presidency which he has held since 2019.
Melissa Depraetere, group leader in the Chamber, was tipped to succeed him. The party will now work to find a new group leader.
Depraetere is expected to lead the party until next year’s federal, regional and European elections. The party’s statutes stipulate that elections must be called within 90 days of the president’s resignation, but this deadline can be extended by six months.
“2024 is too big a year, with too big choices. The choice is simple: forward, or backward. Forward to purchasing power, health care, security and freedom. Wherever the far right dominates, it is very clear: people will regress.”declared the new president of the party.
Melissa Depraetere also returned to the controversial comments of Conner Rousseau, emphasizing that they “are not consistent with what Vooruit represents, nor with the values that Conner defends.” She did not comment on the possibility of the former president of the Flemish party being head of the list in East Flanders. “There is still plenty of time to put the lists in place.”
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