Belgium: Under pressure, centrist Aalter mayor Pieter De Crem resigns and leaves his party following a controversy. He had hijacked a plan to combat slum landlords to protect his city from the settlement of migrants.
This Sunday, Pieter De Crem (CD&V) resigned from his position as mayor of Aalter. For several years, his administration discriminated against foreigners by creating lists of people for whom settling in the municipality was made extremely difficult, if not impossible. A report by Audit Vlaanderen, which VTM News and Het Laatste News have been able to consult, confirms this. This audit explains, among other things, how a plan to combat slum landlords was quickly misused.
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Over the past few months, Audit Vlaanderen has uncovered numerous “irregularities” in Pieter De Crem’s policies. Everything points to a deliberate attempt to keep foreigners as far away from Aalter as possible by treating Belgians and non-Belgians unequally. These findings have been forwarded to the East Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office. Pieter De Crem has since decided to resign as mayor. However, he continues to deny having committed any illegal acts.
Pieter De Crem, mayor of Aalter and a former leading figure in Belgian politics, saved face by announcing his resignation yesterday afternoon. Following Friday's audit, the CD&V put internal pressure on the elected official. The party confirms that contacts have been made.
The message had already been announced before the summer by party chairman Sammy Mahdi, in an interview with the free weekly De Zondag following the revelations on the VRT program Pano. The report had successfully demonstrated that in 9 out of 10 cases, Aalter made foreigners and people of foreign origin who wanted to register in the municipality wait longer. "This goes against the DNA of the CD&V," Mahdi responded bluntly. "I can be very tough, including on immigration, but at the same time, I am sensitive to discrimination. I am the son of a Flemish mother and an Iraqi father. When my parents were looking for an apartment to rent, my father was sometimes refused access because of his foreign name."
Fdesouche
