Cosy Hasselt’s image was smashed brutally recently, when VRT aired a documentary on an internal police conflict. Hasselt mayor Hilde Claes (SP.A), nicknamed “saint Hilde” after the Pukkelpop disaster, stumbled her way through the allegations, leaving her reputation in tatters. Moreover, her predecessors, whose statuses seemed equally saintly, were named as the instigators of all that went wrong.

One of them, Steve Stevaert, known simply as Steve, was the most popular politician of his time. He became known nationally for making the Hasselt busses free of charge, gratis being his buzzword. Stevaert has left politics since. When he makes the headlines now, it is because of a seedy blackmail affair.

Another local politician, the affable Herman Reynders, was a basketball star in his younger days. He is now governor of the province of Limburg, officially a non-political function. But in Limburg, everything is politics.

Stevaert, Reynders, Claes, all stepped into the Limburg tradition, where old boys’ networks take care of everything. The total mess at the local police station is just one result; the city buying the Pukkelpop grounds is shady, too. Most people in Limburg can name dodgy deals like this, but no-one seems to be able to stop them.

So what about the opposition? Well, in Hasselt there is none. The city government is a so-called “reflective college”, which includes every democratic party. When Stevaert introduced this, it was seen as yet another act of his generosity, while in fact it means that every Hasselt politician is in on the game. The same goes for the local press, whose interests reach far beyond the popular daily Belang van Limburg.

Enter Ivo Belet (CD&V), the MEP who will be Claes’ challenger at the local elections next year. Belet, a former political journalist, has a squeaky clean image, having kept himself far from all the Hasselt shenanigans, with which his party was also involved. He promises an end to all shifty deals with “real estate and architect connections”.

Integrity is what he claims. Will he be to the taste of Hasselt and become its next mayor? If not, Belet prefers to stay in the European Parliament. That’s one way of keeping your hands clean.

www.ivobelet.be