Rewrite the provided article:
The PTB made a lot of concessions to gain a majority in Mons or Forest. Its president, Raoul Hedebouw, seems to be launching a first appeal to the PS and Ecolo to deepen their convergences in the face of “the right-wing offensive”.
Has the PTB given up on the revolution? Do the agreements reached with socialists and ecologists in certain municipalities foreshadow collaborations at other levels of power? Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB, wants to believe in convergences on the left. Interview.
What will be the role of the PTB in Mons or Forest?
A theme that came up a lot is access to housing, with the idea that the market cannot respond to the crisis. We find the construction of 200 public housing units in Mons or Forest, the commitment to do everything from the municipality so that the site of the old prison remains in the hands of the public.
It’s a federal building, how can the municipality make such a commitment?
Municipalities are a major player in political decisions in real estate matters. But it is obvious that there will be battles to be fought with the Region and the Federal. Tour & Taxis has been privatized to build luxury housing, we don’t want this to happen in Forest.
“It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches.”
In Forest, you campaigned on the taxation of large companies like Forest National or Delhaize…
This is not a commitment of the coalition agreement. It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches. Our goal is to successfully complete this experience for six years. You can’t get your entire program, that’s obvious.
How do you resolve the problem of debt at the municipal level?
We need refinancing of municipalities, and certainly of popular municipalities. There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities by transferring expenses to the CPAS, the police or the firefighters to impose austerity from the local level. We call for municipalist mobilization. The question of civil servants’ pensions is a financial bomb. The municipal fund is not redistributive enough. There needs to be a rebalancing in favor of popular communities. The Belgian institutional lasagna distributes austerity.
Do you think we are experiencing austerity?
Who will pay for covid? This is an issue that has been there from the start. Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay. When they tell me that we want to make people work longer with pension penalties, that’s austerity, when they tell me that Arizona wants to freeze salaries until 2028 or 2029, that’s austerity. austerity.
“The MR and the right are a driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium.”
What is the relationship of the PTB to the debt, do you consider that it can be canceled?
No way. The question is who pays it back. The MR and the right are one driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium. Tax giveaways to the super rich and reductions in contributions are a cause of the defunding of Social Security. This is the whole debate that is being played out in Arizona. We feel that Vooruit smells the hot breath of PTB/PVDA. Are we going to make the super-rich pay? The number of billionaires increases every year and should we look for money among pensioners and civil servants? Debt is a powerful mechanism of transfer of public money to the banking worldit is not neutral, so the question of who reimburses it is an issue of class struggle.
What do you say about the reluctance of banks to participate in the financing of certain municipalities, who knows, for political reasons.
I haven’t heard any official sources confirm this. I see it as a political agenda from part of the right. A city like Liège, which is managed by the liberals, is also cited. If, indeed, there were to be a reason like that, it would be a serious obstacle to democracy. We saved Belfius with public billions and now we would say that a democratically elected party should not gain a majority in Mons? That would be unheard of. But I take this with cautionbecause I haven’t seen a direct source stating this.
You didn’t call Belfius?
I don’t have the direct number (he bursts out laughing). I have not met Mr. Raisière except perhaps in hearing in the House when he said that there were too many Horeca restaurants in Belgium.
Is your long-term strategy to gain majorities at other levels of power?
The municipal level makes it easier to synthesize different political projects than at the federal level, where major macroeconomic debates are discussed or strategic.
©Diego Franssens
So we think more of the Region…
Even at the regional level, there are significant divisions, for example on the question of whether we do 100% public or public-private. The municipal experience will allow us to understand this type of challenge.
Are you becoming a party of the reformist left?
I am a dialectician, I see complementarity. I am a Marxist and I do not oppose reform and revolution. I’m realistic: the big night isn’t for tomorrow, it’s a day to day fight.
Failing to be able to lead a revolution, we therefore need a compromise approach with the other parties?
Yes, because it is necessary give hope to the working class. Short-term victories are needed. It’s not just a question of political strategy, we must make the inhabitants of Mons and Forest happier. For 20 or 30 years, we have been experiencing the neoliberal revolution. We have an obligation to achieve progress.
“I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy.”
You campaigned hard against the PS, does the PTB want its elimination?
No. If we soberly analyze the campaign for the federal and regional elections, the sponsorship of videos from one party against another mainly came from the PS against the PTB. For our part, we fought against right-wing ideas. I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy, but when the PS decides to block salaries, I am not going to hold back my criticism.
How are you going to manage the fact that PS and PTB find themselves in opposition to the federal government?
There will be a concrete basis for collaboration, we had already experienced this on a smaller scale between 2014-2019 under Charles Michel. This will also be the case, this time, in the Walloon Region, this will create much more convergence, to co-sign texts or requests to the Council of State. The majority-opposition logic will create convergencesvis-à-vis Ecolo too, like our municipal coalitions. We must be able to lead joint battles when the right is on the offensive.
Is there a warming up with the PS?
I know that Magnette is going a little backwards. The “stupid” he said to me during the campaign looked like a communications error, but I understood later that it was a conscious decision of the PS office than to fight especially the PTB. We do not believe like the PS in the free market to solve our social and environmental problems.
How would you define your Marxism?
Capitalism as a system creates an accumulation of wealth on one side of the social spectrum and poverty on the other. A big bourgeoisie owns the big groups and creates a democratic danger and a risk of war. My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction that we must change the economic system.
Should we eliminate the market?
I’m not talking about SMEs, hairdressers and the like, but the large means of production. The public must get their hands back on the energy, a European public authority for steel production seems like a good idea to me. I’m talking about systemic sectors.
You are not against private property?
Of course not. I fight for that of the workers.
Do we need an alliance of the left like in France?
The problem is that the traditional left, by supporting this capitalism, has given support to right-wing ideas. When Elio Di Rupo decides to hunt down unemployed workers, it supports the thesis according to which the unemployed are responsible for the economic crisis. When the PS privatizes banks or telecoms, it supports capitalism. The rise of the PTB will lead, I hope, to a questioning of these strategies. When Ecolo supports the carbon tax at European level, it is the error of punitive ecology, of ecological elitism. I see an interesting dialectic there, there is complementarity. We will undoubtedly find convergences, but for the moment, I do not know what will happen. We have to write part of the story.
“I don’t believe that it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels.”
Do you have any contact with the Chinese PC? The Cuban regime?
With China, not much. We support Cuba in its fight against the embargo. But we are not in an international. We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy. Which does not prevent us from having a lot of international contacts.
Brussels is in crisis? Is the PTB ready to come to power?
I don’t think it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels. This does not arise very concretely in my opinion. But if we are calledwe are always open to discussion.
Key phrases
- “There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities to impose austerity from the local level.”
- “Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay.”
- “My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction thatwe have to change the system economic.”
- “We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy.”
into a high-quality, completely original piece for my website.
The rewritten article must:
Be entirely reimagined and rewritten, with no sentences or phrasing resembling
The PTB made a lot of concessions to gain a majority in Mons or Forest. Its president, Raoul Hedebouw, seems to be launching a first appeal to the PS and Ecolo to deepen their convergences in the face of “the right-wing offensive”.
Has the PTB given up on the revolution? Do the agreements reached with socialists and ecologists in certain municipalities foreshadow collaborations at other levels of power? Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB, wants to believe in convergences on the left. Interview.
What will be the role of the PTB in Mons or Forest?
A theme that came up a lot is access to housing, with the idea that the market cannot respond to the crisis. We find the construction of 200 public housing units in Mons or Forest, the commitment to do everything from the municipality so that the site of the old prison remains in the hands of the public.
It’s a federal building, how can the municipality make such a commitment?
Municipalities are a major player in political decisions in real estate matters. But it is obvious that there will be battles to be fought with the Region and the Federal. Tour & Taxis has been privatized to build luxury housing, we don’t want this to happen in Forest.
“It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches.”
In Forest, you campaigned on the taxation of large companies like Forest National or Delhaize…
This is not a commitment of the coalition agreement. It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches. Our goal is to successfully complete this experience for six years. You can’t get your entire program, that’s obvious.
How do you resolve the problem of debt at the municipal level?
We need refinancing of municipalities, and certainly of popular municipalities. There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities by transferring expenses to the CPAS, the police or the firefighters to impose austerity from the local level. We call for municipalist mobilization. The question of civil servants’ pensions is a financial bomb. The municipal fund is not redistributive enough. There needs to be a rebalancing in favor of popular communities. The Belgian institutional lasagna distributes austerity.
Do you think we are experiencing austerity?
Who will pay for covid? This is an issue that has been there from the start. Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay. When they tell me that we want to make people work longer with pension penalties, that’s austerity, when they tell me that Arizona wants to freeze salaries until 2028 or 2029, that’s austerity. austerity.
“The MR and the right are a driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium.”
What is the relationship of the PTB to the debt, do you consider that it can be canceled?
No way. The question is who pays it back. The MR and the right are one driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium. Tax giveaways to the super rich and reductions in contributions are a cause of the defunding of Social Security. This is the whole debate that is being played out in Arizona. We feel that Vooruit smells the hot breath of PTB/PVDA. Are we going to make the super-rich pay? The number of billionaires increases every year and should we look for money among pensioners and civil servants? Debt is a powerful mechanism of transfer of public money to the banking worldit is not neutral, so the question of who reimburses it is an issue of class struggle.
What do you say about the reluctance of banks to participate in the financing of certain municipalities, who knows, for political reasons.
I haven’t heard any official sources confirm this. I see it as a political agenda from part of the right. A city like Liège, which is managed by the liberals, is also cited. If, indeed, there were to be a reason like that, it would be a serious obstacle to democracy. We saved Belfius with public billions and now we would say that a democratically elected party should not gain a majority in Mons? That would be unheard of. But I take this with cautionbecause I haven’t seen a direct source stating this.
You didn’t call Belfius?
I don’t have the direct number (he bursts out laughing). I have not met Mr. Raisière except perhaps in hearing in the House when he said that there were too many Horeca restaurants in Belgium.
Is your long-term strategy to gain majorities at other levels of power?
The municipal level makes it easier to synthesize different political projects than at the federal level, where major macroeconomic debates are discussed or strategic.
©Diego Franssens
So we think more of the Region…
Even at the regional level, there are significant divisions, for example on the question of whether we do 100% public or public-private. The municipal experience will allow us to understand this type of challenge.
Are you becoming a party of the reformist left?
I am a dialectician, I see complementarity. I am a Marxist and I do not oppose reform and revolution. I’m realistic: the big night isn’t for tomorrow, it’s a day to day fight.
Failing to be able to lead a revolution, we therefore need a compromise approach with the other parties?
Yes, because it is necessary give hope to the working class. Short-term victories are needed. It’s not just a question of political strategy, we must make the inhabitants of Mons and Forest happier. For 20 or 30 years, we have been experiencing the neoliberal revolution. We have an obligation to achieve progress.
“I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy.”
You campaigned hard against the PS, does the PTB want its elimination?
No. If we soberly analyze the campaign for the federal and regional elections, the sponsorship of videos from one party against another mainly came from the PS against the PTB. For our part, we fought against right-wing ideas. I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy, but when the PS decides to block salaries, I am not going to hold back my criticism.
How are you going to manage the fact that PS and PTB find themselves in opposition to the federal government?
There will be a concrete basis for collaboration, we had already experienced this on a smaller scale between 2014-2019 under Charles Michel. This will also be the case, this time, in the Walloon Region, this will create much more convergence, to co-sign texts or requests to the Council of State. The majority-opposition logic will create convergencesvis-à-vis Ecolo too, like our municipal coalitions. We must be able to lead joint battles when the right is on the offensive.
Is there a warming up with the PS?
I know that Magnette is going a little backwards. The “stupid” he said to me during the campaign looked like a communications error, but I understood later that it was a conscious decision of the PS office than to fight especially the PTB. We do not believe like the PS in the free market to solve our social and environmental problems.
How would you define your Marxism?
Capitalism as a system creates an accumulation of wealth on one side of the social spectrum and poverty on the other. A big bourgeoisie owns the big groups and creates a democratic danger and a risk of war. My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction that we must change the economic system.
Should we eliminate the market?
I’m not talking about SMEs, hairdressers and the like, but the large means of production. The public must get their hands back on the energy, a European public authority for steel production seems like a good idea to me. I’m talking about systemic sectors.
You are not against private property?
Of course not. I fight for that of the workers.
Do we need an alliance of the left like in France?
The problem is that the traditional left, by supporting this capitalism, has given support to right-wing ideas. When Elio Di Rupo decides to hunt down unemployed workers, it supports the thesis according to which the unemployed are responsible for the economic crisis. When the PS privatizes banks or telecoms, it supports capitalism. The rise of the PTB will lead, I hope, to a questioning of these strategies. When Ecolo supports the carbon tax at European level, it is the error of punitive ecology, of ecological elitism. I see an interesting dialectic there, there is complementarity. We will undoubtedly find convergences, but for the moment, I do not know what will happen. We have to write part of the story.
“I don’t believe that it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels.”
Do you have any contact with the Chinese PC? The Cuban regime?
With China, not much. We support Cuba in its fight against the embargo. But we are not in an international. We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy. Which does not prevent us from having a lot of international contacts.
Brussels is in crisis? Is the PTB ready to come to power?
I don’t think it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels. This does not arise very concretely in my opinion. But if we are calledwe are always open to discussion.
Key phrases
- “There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities to impose austerity from the local level.”
- “Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay.”
- “My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction thatwe have to change the system economic.”
- “We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy.”
, while maintaining the same key facts, dates, and quotes. The new text should feel completely fresh, naturally flowing, and as if written from scratch by a professional human news editor.
Retain all people’s declarations in quotation marks (” “) exactly as they appear in
The PTB made a lot of concessions to gain a majority in Mons or Forest. Its president, Raoul Hedebouw, seems to be launching a first appeal to the PS and Ecolo to deepen their convergences in the face of “the right-wing offensive”.
Has the PTB given up on the revolution? Do the agreements reached with socialists and ecologists in certain municipalities foreshadow collaborations at other levels of power? Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB, wants to believe in convergences on the left. Interview.
What will be the role of the PTB in Mons or Forest?
A theme that came up a lot is access to housing, with the idea that the market cannot respond to the crisis. We find the construction of 200 public housing units in Mons or Forest, the commitment to do everything from the municipality so that the site of the old prison remains in the hands of the public.
It’s a federal building, how can the municipality make such a commitment?
Municipalities are a major player in political decisions in real estate matters. But it is obvious that there will be battles to be fought with the Region and the Federal. Tour & Taxis has been privatized to build luxury housing, we don’t want this to happen in Forest.
“It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches.”
In Forest, you campaigned on the taxation of large companies like Forest National or Delhaize…
This is not a commitment of the coalition agreement. It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches. Our goal is to successfully complete this experience for six years. You can’t get your entire program, that’s obvious.
How do you resolve the problem of debt at the municipal level?
We need refinancing of municipalities, and certainly of popular municipalities. There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities by transferring expenses to the CPAS, the police or the firefighters to impose austerity from the local level. We call for municipalist mobilization. The question of civil servants’ pensions is a financial bomb. The municipal fund is not redistributive enough. There needs to be a rebalancing in favor of popular communities. The Belgian institutional lasagna distributes austerity.
Do you think we are experiencing austerity?
Who will pay for covid? This is an issue that has been there from the start. Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay. When they tell me that we want to make people work longer with pension penalties, that’s austerity, when they tell me that Arizona wants to freeze salaries until 2028 or 2029, that’s austerity. austerity.
“The MR and the right are a driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium.”
What is the relationship of the PTB to the debt, do you consider that it can be canceled?
No way. The question is who pays it back. The MR and the right are one driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium. Tax giveaways to the super rich and reductions in contributions are a cause of the defunding of Social Security. This is the whole debate that is being played out in Arizona. We feel that Vooruit smells the hot breath of PTB/PVDA. Are we going to make the super-rich pay? The number of billionaires increases every year and should we look for money among pensioners and civil servants? Debt is a powerful mechanism of transfer of public money to the banking worldit is not neutral, so the question of who reimburses it is an issue of class struggle.
What do you say about the reluctance of banks to participate in the financing of certain municipalities, who knows, for political reasons.
I haven’t heard any official sources confirm this. I see it as a political agenda from part of the right. A city like Liège, which is managed by the liberals, is also cited. If, indeed, there were to be a reason like that, it would be a serious obstacle to democracy. We saved Belfius with public billions and now we would say that a democratically elected party should not gain a majority in Mons? That would be unheard of. But I take this with cautionbecause I haven’t seen a direct source stating this.
You didn’t call Belfius?
I don’t have the direct number (he bursts out laughing). I have not met Mr. Raisière except perhaps in hearing in the House when he said that there were too many Horeca restaurants in Belgium.
Is your long-term strategy to gain majorities at other levels of power?
The municipal level makes it easier to synthesize different political projects than at the federal level, where major macroeconomic debates are discussed or strategic.
©Diego Franssens
So we think more of the Region…
Even at the regional level, there are significant divisions, for example on the question of whether we do 100% public or public-private. The municipal experience will allow us to understand this type of challenge.
Are you becoming a party of the reformist left?
I am a dialectician, I see complementarity. I am a Marxist and I do not oppose reform and revolution. I’m realistic: the big night isn’t for tomorrow, it’s a day to day fight.
Failing to be able to lead a revolution, we therefore need a compromise approach with the other parties?
Yes, because it is necessary give hope to the working class. Short-term victories are needed. It’s not just a question of political strategy, we must make the inhabitants of Mons and Forest happier. For 20 or 30 years, we have been experiencing the neoliberal revolution. We have an obligation to achieve progress.
“I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy.”
You campaigned hard against the PS, does the PTB want its elimination?
No. If we soberly analyze the campaign for the federal and regional elections, the sponsorship of videos from one party against another mainly came from the PS against the PTB. For our part, we fought against right-wing ideas. I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy, but when the PS decides to block salaries, I am not going to hold back my criticism.
How are you going to manage the fact that PS and PTB find themselves in opposition to the federal government?
There will be a concrete basis for collaboration, we had already experienced this on a smaller scale between 2014-2019 under Charles Michel. This will also be the case, this time, in the Walloon Region, this will create much more convergence, to co-sign texts or requests to the Council of State. The majority-opposition logic will create convergencesvis-à-vis Ecolo too, like our municipal coalitions. We must be able to lead joint battles when the right is on the offensive.
Is there a warming up with the PS?
I know that Magnette is going a little backwards. The “stupid” he said to me during the campaign looked like a communications error, but I understood later that it was a conscious decision of the PS office than to fight especially the PTB. We do not believe like the PS in the free market to solve our social and environmental problems.
How would you define your Marxism?
Capitalism as a system creates an accumulation of wealth on one side of the social spectrum and poverty on the other. A big bourgeoisie owns the big groups and creates a democratic danger and a risk of war. My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction that we must change the economic system.
Should we eliminate the market?
I’m not talking about SMEs, hairdressers and the like, but the large means of production. The public must get their hands back on the energy, a European public authority for steel production seems like a good idea to me. I’m talking about systemic sectors.
You are not against private property?
Of course not. I fight for that of the workers.
Do we need an alliance of the left like in France?
The problem is that the traditional left, by supporting this capitalism, has given support to right-wing ideas. When Elio Di Rupo decides to hunt down unemployed workers, it supports the thesis according to which the unemployed are responsible for the economic crisis. When the PS privatizes banks or telecoms, it supports capitalism. The rise of the PTB will lead, I hope, to a questioning of these strategies. When Ecolo supports the carbon tax at European level, it is the error of punitive ecology, of ecological elitism. I see an interesting dialectic there, there is complementarity. We will undoubtedly find convergences, but for the moment, I do not know what will happen. We have to write part of the story.
“I don’t believe that it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels.”
Do you have any contact with the Chinese PC? The Cuban regime?
With China, not much. We support Cuba in its fight against the embargo. But we are not in an international. We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy. Which does not prevent us from having a lot of international contacts.
Brussels is in crisis? Is the PTB ready to come to power?
I don’t think it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels. This does not arise very concretely in my opinion. But if we are calledwe are always open to discussion.
Key phrases
- “There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities to impose austerity from the local level.”
- “Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay.”
- “My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction thatwe have to change the system economic.”
- “We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy.”
, incorporating them naturally into the rewritten text.
Preserve all original HTML tags from
The PTB made a lot of concessions to gain a majority in Mons or Forest. Its president, Raoul Hedebouw, seems to be launching a first appeal to the PS and Ecolo to deepen their convergences in the face of “the right-wing offensive”.
Has the PTB given up on the revolution? Do the agreements reached with socialists and ecologists in certain municipalities foreshadow collaborations at other levels of power? Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB, wants to believe in convergences on the left. Interview.
What will be the role of the PTB in Mons or Forest?
A theme that came up a lot is access to housing, with the idea that the market cannot respond to the crisis. We find the construction of 200 public housing units in Mons or Forest, the commitment to do everything from the municipality so that the site of the old prison remains in the hands of the public.
It’s a federal building, how can the municipality make such a commitment?
Municipalities are a major player in political decisions in real estate matters. But it is obvious that there will be battles to be fought with the Region and the Federal. Tour & Taxis has been privatized to build luxury housing, we don’t want this to happen in Forest.
“It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches.”
In Forest, you campaigned on the taxation of large companies like Forest National or Delhaize…
This is not a commitment of the coalition agreement. It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches. Our goal is to successfully complete this experience for six years. You can’t get your entire program, that’s obvious.
How do you resolve the problem of debt at the municipal level?
We need refinancing of municipalities, and certainly of popular municipalities. There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities by transferring expenses to the CPAS, the police or the firefighters to impose austerity from the local level. We call for municipalist mobilization. The question of civil servants’ pensions is a financial bomb. The municipal fund is not redistributive enough. There needs to be a rebalancing in favor of popular communities. The Belgian institutional lasagna distributes austerity.
Do you think we are experiencing austerity?
Who will pay for covid? This is an issue that has been there from the start. Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay. When they tell me that we want to make people work longer with pension penalties, that’s austerity, when they tell me that Arizona wants to freeze salaries until 2028 or 2029, that’s austerity. austerity.
“The MR and the right are a driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium.”
What is the relationship of the PTB to the debt, do you consider that it can be canceled?
No way. The question is who pays it back. The MR and the right are one driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium. Tax giveaways to the super rich and reductions in contributions are a cause of the defunding of Social Security. This is the whole debate that is being played out in Arizona. We feel that Vooruit smells the hot breath of PTB/PVDA. Are we going to make the super-rich pay? The number of billionaires increases every year and should we look for money among pensioners and civil servants? Debt is a powerful mechanism of transfer of public money to the banking worldit is not neutral, so the question of who reimburses it is an issue of class struggle.
What do you say about the reluctance of banks to participate in the financing of certain municipalities, who knows, for political reasons.
I haven’t heard any official sources confirm this. I see it as a political agenda from part of the right. A city like Liège, which is managed by the liberals, is also cited. If, indeed, there were to be a reason like that, it would be a serious obstacle to democracy. We saved Belfius with public billions and now we would say that a democratically elected party should not gain a majority in Mons? That would be unheard of. But I take this with cautionbecause I haven’t seen a direct source stating this.
You didn’t call Belfius?
I don’t have the direct number (he bursts out laughing). I have not met Mr. Raisière except perhaps in hearing in the House when he said that there were too many Horeca restaurants in Belgium.
Is your long-term strategy to gain majorities at other levels of power?
The municipal level makes it easier to synthesize different political projects than at the federal level, where major macroeconomic debates are discussed or strategic.
©Diego Franssens
So we think more of the Region…
Even at the regional level, there are significant divisions, for example on the question of whether we do 100% public or public-private. The municipal experience will allow us to understand this type of challenge.
Are you becoming a party of the reformist left?
I am a dialectician, I see complementarity. I am a Marxist and I do not oppose reform and revolution. I’m realistic: the big night isn’t for tomorrow, it’s a day to day fight.
Failing to be able to lead a revolution, we therefore need a compromise approach with the other parties?
Yes, because it is necessary give hope to the working class. Short-term victories are needed. It’s not just a question of political strategy, we must make the inhabitants of Mons and Forest happier. For 20 or 30 years, we have been experiencing the neoliberal revolution. We have an obligation to achieve progress.
“I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy.”
You campaigned hard against the PS, does the PTB want its elimination?
No. If we soberly analyze the campaign for the federal and regional elections, the sponsorship of videos from one party against another mainly came from the PS against the PTB. For our part, we fought against right-wing ideas. I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy, but when the PS decides to block salaries, I am not going to hold back my criticism.
How are you going to manage the fact that PS and PTB find themselves in opposition to the federal government?
There will be a concrete basis for collaboration, we had already experienced this on a smaller scale between 2014-2019 under Charles Michel. This will also be the case, this time, in the Walloon Region, this will create much more convergence, to co-sign texts or requests to the Council of State. The majority-opposition logic will create convergencesvis-à-vis Ecolo too, like our municipal coalitions. We must be able to lead joint battles when the right is on the offensive.
Is there a warming up with the PS?
I know that Magnette is going a little backwards. The “stupid” he said to me during the campaign looked like a communications error, but I understood later that it was a conscious decision of the PS office than to fight especially the PTB. We do not believe like the PS in the free market to solve our social and environmental problems.
How would you define your Marxism?
Capitalism as a system creates an accumulation of wealth on one side of the social spectrum and poverty on the other. A big bourgeoisie owns the big groups and creates a democratic danger and a risk of war. My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction that we must change the economic system.
Should we eliminate the market?
I’m not talking about SMEs, hairdressers and the like, but the large means of production. The public must get their hands back on the energy, a European public authority for steel production seems like a good idea to me. I’m talking about systemic sectors.
You are not against private property?
Of course not. I fight for that of the workers.
Do we need an alliance of the left like in France?
The problem is that the traditional left, by supporting this capitalism, has given support to right-wing ideas. When Elio Di Rupo decides to hunt down unemployed workers, it supports the thesis according to which the unemployed are responsible for the economic crisis. When the PS privatizes banks or telecoms, it supports capitalism. The rise of the PTB will lead, I hope, to a questioning of these strategies. When Ecolo supports the carbon tax at European level, it is the error of punitive ecology, of ecological elitism. I see an interesting dialectic there, there is complementarity. We will undoubtedly find convergences, but for the moment, I do not know what will happen. We have to write part of the story.
“I don’t believe that it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels.”
Do you have any contact with the Chinese PC? The Cuban regime?
With China, not much. We support Cuba in its fight against the embargo. But we are not in an international. We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy. Which does not prevent us from having a lot of international contacts.
Brussels is in crisis? Is the PTB ready to come to power?
I don’t think it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels. This does not arise very concretely in my opinion. But if we are calledwe are always open to discussion.
Key phrases
- “There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities to impose austerity from the local level.”
- “Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay.”
- “My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction thatwe have to change the system economic.”
- “We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy.”
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The PTB made a lot of concessions to gain a majority in Mons or Forest. Its president, Raoul Hedebouw, seems to be launching a first appeal to the PS and Ecolo to deepen their convergences in the face of “the right-wing offensive”.
Has the PTB given up on the revolution? Do the agreements reached with socialists and ecologists in certain municipalities foreshadow collaborations at other levels of power? Raoul Hedebouw, president of the PTB, wants to believe in convergences on the left. Interview.
What will be the role of the PTB in Mons or Forest?
A theme that came up a lot is access to housing, with the idea that the market cannot respond to the crisis. We find the construction of 200 public housing units in Mons or Forest, the commitment to do everything from the municipality so that the site of the old prison remains in the hands of the public.
It’s a federal building, how can the municipality make such a commitment?
Municipalities are a major player in political decisions in real estate matters. But it is obvious that there will be battles to be fought with the Region and the Federal. Tour & Taxis has been privatized to build luxury housing, we don’t want this to happen in Forest.
“It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches.”
In Forest, you campaigned on the taxation of large companies like Forest National or Delhaize…
This is not a commitment of the coalition agreement. It took building trust to get what I call PTB touches. Our goal is to successfully complete this experience for six years. You can’t get your entire program, that’s obvious.
How do you resolve the problem of debt at the municipal level?
We need refinancing of municipalities, and certainly of popular municipalities. There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities by transferring expenses to the CPAS, the police or the firefighters to impose austerity from the local level. We call for municipalist mobilization. The question of civil servants’ pensions is a financial bomb. The municipal fund is not redistributive enough. There needs to be a rebalancing in favor of popular communities. The Belgian institutional lasagna distributes austerity.
Do you think we are experiencing austerity?
Who will pay for covid? This is an issue that has been there from the start. Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay. When they tell me that we want to make people work longer with pension penalties, that’s austerity, when they tell me that Arizona wants to freeze salaries until 2028 or 2029, that’s austerity. austerity.
“The MR and the right are a driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium.”
What is the relationship of the PTB to the debt, do you consider that it can be canceled?
No way. The question is who pays it back. The MR and the right are one driving force behind the increase in debt in Belgium. Tax giveaways to the super rich and reductions in contributions are a cause of the defunding of Social Security. This is the whole debate that is being played out in Arizona. We feel that Vooruit smells the hot breath of PTB/PVDA. Are we going to make the super-rich pay? The number of billionaires increases every year and should we look for money among pensioners and civil servants? Debt is a powerful mechanism of transfer of public money to the banking worldit is not neutral, so the question of who reimburses it is an issue of class struggle.
What do you say about the reluctance of banks to participate in the financing of certain municipalities, who knows, for political reasons.
I haven’t heard any official sources confirm this. I see it as a political agenda from part of the right. A city like Liège, which is managed by the liberals, is also cited. If, indeed, there were to be a reason like that, it would be a serious obstacle to democracy. We saved Belfius with public billions and now we would say that a democratically elected party should not gain a majority in Mons? That would be unheard of. But I take this with cautionbecause I haven’t seen a direct source stating this.
You didn’t call Belfius?
I don’t have the direct number (he bursts out laughing). I have not met Mr. Raisière except perhaps in hearing in the House when he said that there were too many Horeca restaurants in Belgium.
Is your long-term strategy to gain majorities at other levels of power?
The municipal level makes it easier to synthesize different political projects than at the federal level, where major macroeconomic debates are discussed or strategic.
©Diego Franssens
So we think more of the Region…
Even at the regional level, there are significant divisions, for example on the question of whether we do 100% public or public-private. The municipal experience will allow us to understand this type of challenge.
Are you becoming a party of the reformist left?
I am a dialectician, I see complementarity. I am a Marxist and I do not oppose reform and revolution. I’m realistic: the big night isn’t for tomorrow, it’s a day to day fight.
Failing to be able to lead a revolution, we therefore need a compromise approach with the other parties?
Yes, because it is necessary give hope to the working class. Short-term victories are needed. It’s not just a question of political strategy, we must make the inhabitants of Mons and Forest happier. For 20 or 30 years, we have been experiencing the neoliberal revolution. We have an obligation to achieve progress.
“I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy.”
You campaigned hard against the PS, does the PTB want its elimination?
No. If we soberly analyze the campaign for the federal and regional elections, the sponsorship of videos from one party against another mainly came from the PS against the PTB. For our part, we fought against right-wing ideas. I do not wish for the implosion of social democracy, but when the PS decides to block salaries, I am not going to hold back my criticism.
How are you going to manage the fact that PS and PTB find themselves in opposition to the federal government?
There will be a concrete basis for collaboration, we had already experienced this on a smaller scale between 2014-2019 under Charles Michel. This will also be the case, this time, in the Walloon Region, this will create much more convergence, to co-sign texts or requests to the Council of State. The majority-opposition logic will create convergencesvis-à-vis Ecolo too, like our municipal coalitions. We must be able to lead joint battles when the right is on the offensive.
Is there a warming up with the PS?
I know that Magnette is going a little backwards. The “stupid” he said to me during the campaign looked like a communications error, but I understood later that it was a conscious decision of the PS office than to fight especially the PTB. We do not believe like the PS in the free market to solve our social and environmental problems.
How would you define your Marxism?
Capitalism as a system creates an accumulation of wealth on one side of the social spectrum and poverty on the other. A big bourgeoisie owns the big groups and creates a democratic danger and a risk of war. My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction that we must change the economic system.
Should we eliminate the market?
I’m not talking about SMEs, hairdressers and the like, but the large means of production. The public must get their hands back on the energy, a European public authority for steel production seems like a good idea to me. I’m talking about systemic sectors.
You are not against private property?
Of course not. I fight for that of the workers.
Do we need an alliance of the left like in France?
The problem is that the traditional left, by supporting this capitalism, has given support to right-wing ideas. When Elio Di Rupo decides to hunt down unemployed workers, it supports the thesis according to which the unemployed are responsible for the economic crisis. When the PS privatizes banks or telecoms, it supports capitalism. The rise of the PTB will lead, I hope, to a questioning of these strategies. When Ecolo supports the carbon tax at European level, it is the error of punitive ecology, of ecological elitism. I see an interesting dialectic there, there is complementarity. We will undoubtedly find convergences, but for the moment, I do not know what will happen. We have to write part of the story.
“I don’t believe that it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels.”
Do you have any contact with the Chinese PC? The Cuban regime?
With China, not much. We support Cuba in its fight against the embargo. But we are not in an international. We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy. Which does not prevent us from having a lot of international contacts.
Brussels is in crisis? Is the PTB ready to come to power?
I don’t think it’s the PTB that will turn the lights back on in Brussels. This does not arise very concretely in my opinion. But if we are calledwe are always open to discussion.
Key phrases
- “There is a federal strategy which aims to bankrupt municipalities to impose austerity from the local level.”
- “Everything that is on the table today aims to make the working classes pay.”
- “My Marxism 2.0 is the conviction thatwe have to change the system economic.”
- “We are independent, we apply our policy and we owe nothing to any embassy.”
remain.
Be between 800–1,200 words long, with clear subheadings for readability.
Provide only the final rewritten article text with all original HTML tags properly retained and integrated. Ensure the content reads naturally, as if written by a skilled human journalist, with no robotic tone or AI-like repetition. Do not include any notes, explanations, or commentary.
How does Raoul Hedebouw view the role of traditional left-wing parties in perpetuating capitalist structures, and what alternative does he propose for the Belgian left?
The provided text discusses the political ideology of the Belgian Workers’ Party (PTB), specifically, the views of its leader, Raoul Hedebouw, on Marxism.
Hedebouw details his belief in the need for change in the current economic system, capitalism, which he believes leads to wealth accrual by a small group (“big bourgeoisie”), setting up a “democratic danger and a risk of war.” He advocates for “Marxism 2.0,” aiming to change the system, not eliminate the market entirely, but focusing on systemic sectors and large means of production. He mentions the pursuit of a European public authority for steel production as an example.
He clarifies that he is not against private property, his fight is for the workers to have ownership. He expresses a belief that traditional left-wing parties have compromised themselves by supporting capitalism, citing examples like Elio Di Rupo’s policies towards unemployed workers and the PS’s privatization decisions.
He believes that the rise of the PTB will lead to questioning these strategies and hopes for an alliance on the left, recognizing the need for collaboration despite potential ideological differences.
The text also touches upon the PTB’s relationship with other political forces in Belgium, mentioning their opposition to the PS and Ecolo, and highlighting the potential for collaboration despite differing ideologies.
the text hints at a need for hope and short-term victories, particularly for the working class in Mons and Forest, underlining the importance of achieving
progress.
