Flemish Member of Parliament Sihame El Kaouakibi, who has been on sick leave for some time, has been silent for a long time about the allegations against her. At the beginning of last year it became known that she had received subsidies for her Antwerp youth project Let’s Go Urban, but that she would have passed that money on to other companies. Since the lifting of her parliamentary immunity last month, she has been particularly active on Instagram to answer questions from followers, except about the content of the file.
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“The painful thing about prejudices is that they are confirmed because they exist,” says El Kaouakibi in a new video. “My case again affects all people with a certain background, especially in terms of image. I am sorry for anyone who feels personally affected by this.”
According to Sihame El Kaouakibi, two weights and measures are used. “The double standard is painful when you compare this case with similar cases involving stereotypical dignitaries. But now that I myself am the object of suffering, there are people who have a justified feeling” that the case “refers to them as well”. “This question is confrontational, but also certainly legitimate,” says El Kaouakibi. “As a woman of color, linked to a political-social cause, I do not want to downplay that this also reflects negatively on different communities.”
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Earlier this month it was announced that El Kaouakibi had applied for two part-time parliamentary assistants. That request was refused by the faction leaders of the other parties. According to Open VLD chairman Egbert Lachaert, El Kaouakibi “has done a lot of damage to democracy and also to our party to this day, she refuses to give even the beginning of accountability for the facts of which she is accused.”
READ ALSO. Sihame El Kaouakibi applies for a parliamentary assistant, but he turns out to be anything but undiscussed
Although she also regularly receives questions from her followers on Instagram about what exactly happened, El Kaouakibi refuses to go deeper into the investigation into malpractice. She emphasizes that the media spread “fables” and that she will only provide more text and explanation at a later date.
Subsidy fraud
The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office wants to prosecute El Kaouakibi for, among other things, subsidy fraud. Various governments have taken civil action in this regard. At the end of October, the council chamber in Antwerp indefinitely postponed the case of El Kaouakibi and her youth project Let’s Go Urban, following requests from various parties for additional investigations.
READ ALSO. Lawyer El Kaouakibi: “Investigation is not yet complete”
In her own words, she has “resisted most of the time trial by media in guilt by association”. She laments that a woman of color is often “treated this way”. “I hope you can see that this has to do with the larger mechanism behind this. This has to do with the impact of imagery and unfortunately this reflects on the people who follow me and people from my community.”
“censored”
Last month, the Flemish Parliament lifted the parliamentary immunity of the people’s representative, which was a necessary condition for being prosecuted. After almost two years of absence, El Kaouakibi made her appearance in parliament. Chairman Liesbeth Homans decided in consultation with the group leaders to close the doors for the speech of the independent member of parliament. She later announced on Instagram that she felt censored. “I expected the curses, but not that they would censor me,” it sounded. “Whatever the media wants to make of it… I wanted to make anything but a show here. The press was already fully present and I am the last person to seek the spotlight myself.”
READ ALSO. Brought her own cameras, and that’s exactly what ruined her show: how Sihame El Kaouakibi’s last political performance fell into the water (+)
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Two days after her immunity was lifted, Sihame El Kaouakibi released a six-minute monologue on Instagram. It was the longer version of a speech she had read in the Flemish Parliament.
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