Tension in Anderlecht: MR Calls for Alderwoman’s Resignation Amid Claims of Lies

“Electoralists and now liars”: tension rises another notch in Anderlecht, the MR calls for the resignation of an alderwoman

The political reactions were not slow. the MR called for the resignation of the Anderlecht alderwoman for Equal Opportunities, Nadia Kammachi. “Ecolo therefore sat on the administration’s report which did not suit him and wanted to force his motion through clearly using intimidation and lies”, commented Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven, leader of the MR and former mayor of Anderlecht.

Georges-Louis Bouchez loses his temper after the authorization of the wearing of convictional signs in the municipal administration in Anderlecht

The president of Ecolo in the Brussels-Capital Region reacted this Saturday afternoon, speaking of a “pseudo-lie”.

“The internal consultation process at the municipality clearly highlighted a risk of discrimination linked to the ban on wearing religious symbols,” writes Marie Lecocq in a press release. “This risk was presented to the municipal college, kept informed of the process. It is on the basis of this shared observation that the alderman in charge of equal opportunities Nadia Kammachi, who was asked about the issue, proposed a change in the rules in this area. Like the entire College, the socialist majority partner concluded the same risk since he himself tabled a motion seeking the approval (Editor’s note: the amendment to Ecolo’s motion, which was finally voted on) of the principle of authorizing the wearing of convictional symbols, except under conditions to be determined. The PS was joined in this by other groups.”

The administrative agents who participated in the working groups within the Anderlecht administration highlighted, in the diversity plan sent to the Anderlecht Municipal College in May 2023, “the risk of long-term discrimination” linked to “ non-representation of women with convictional signs” and the fact that “wearing a headscarf is not authorized”.

However, the recommendation to authorize all signs of conviction in the administration does not appear at any time in the conclusions of the report of this “diversity plan.”

The only passage which explicitly refers to convictional signs simply sets the objective of “pursuing a global reflection on the wearing of convictional signs within our administration”. We are therefore very far from a recommendation to authorize convictional signs…

The diversity plan of the Anderlecht administration, which led to the motion demanding the authorization without distinction of convictional signs in the administration. ©AdM

However, it is indeed on the basis of this report that the Equal Opportunities alderman, Nadia Kammachi (Ecolo), justified the content of the motion.

”Yes, we are moving away from the regional Ecolo line, but we are innovating with a proposal co-constructed at the administration level. The methodology was approved by a large working group made up of 37 workers. The report they submitted included the authorization of convictional signs,” she assured November 28 in La Libre.

Ecolo-Groen list in Anderlecht Nadia Kammachi poses for photographer in maarge of a press conference of green parties Ecolo and Groen to announce the Brussels’ candidates for the 2024 local elections, Saturday 24 June 2023 in Brussels. BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK

Rajae Maouane made similar remarks this Monday in the Last Hour, assuring that the tabling of the Anderlecht motion “is only the transposition of the conclusions of the report that they (Editor’s note: around forty people in the administration) produced .”

Please note, however, that the interview took place before the Anderlecht municipal council voted on the motion. And that there is nothing to indicate that the co-president of Ecolo was aware of the real content of this report in terms of diversity.

“They didn’t see themselves in the result”

Still, it is wrong to claim that the tabling of the motion is based on the conclusions of a report, the conclusions of which have also greatly frustrated some of the people who had been invited to participate in its co-construction.

”Before the summer of 2023, when the diversity report was presented to the senior hierarchy of the Anderlecht administration, the agents who participated in the working groups expressed the fact that this report did not at all reflect the opinions they had expressed. Some were really shocked because the idea was to co-construct a position, but they did not see themselves in the result,” indicated a well-informed source, in La Libre on Saturday.

It is in fact on the basis of these agents’ testimonies, and not the administration’s report, that the motion desired by Nadia Kammachi and Shahin Mohammad, head of the Ecolo group on the municipal council, was constructed.

A report which, at the time of writing these lines, had still not been submitted to the Anderlecht municipal councilors. The head of the Les Engagés group, Sofia Bennani, also strongly regretted it this Thursday during the last municipal council.

The elected officials of the municipality therefore voted on a motion, drawn up on the basis of a report, without having been able to consult it.

In view of the indisputable discrepancy between the words of the Anderlecht alderwoman and the real content of the report, the persistent refusal of Nadia Kammachi and the Anderlecht College to communicate this report to the municipal councilors is cause for concern…

2023-12-02 15:52:00
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