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Bourgeois again refuses to appoint mayors

Geert Bourgeois (N-VA), Flemish minister for internal affairs and de rand, or the periphery of municipalities around Brussels, repeated his refusal to appoint the candidate mayors of Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem and Linkebeek. This is the second time that the mayors have refused to abide by the language laws during a communal election. The law states that the official language of their municipalities is Dutch (with “facilities” granted to French-speaking residents). Bourgeois also suspended two deputy mayors.

The move follows negative advice by the governor of Flemish Brabant, to whom the three candidate mayors had confirmed their non-adherence to the language laws. During the communal elections last October, they sent out French-language voting instructions, a breach of the law. Another French-speaking mayor, Pierre Rolin of Sint-Genesius-Rode, has proclaimed his intention to stick to the law. He received a positive advice and was appointed mayor accordingly.

The three candidate mayors will contest the decision at the Council of State. They hope that a new bilingual chamber, which was installed as compensation for the split of the constituency BHV, will agree with them. They also plan to take the case to the Council of Europe and the UN Human Rights Court.

(March 6, 2024)