Brussels Parliament back in session after major overhaul
The new parliament of Brussels Region will begin its first session this Tuesday afternoon. This year’s parliament has been marked by a major overhaul: more than half of the 89 members of the new parliament were not members of the previous one.
Moreover, the number of women members is set to increase: this year’s cohort will include 42 women, six more than in the previous parliament.
The distribution of members among the political parties has also become more evenly balanced: the strongest parties in 2014, the PS and the MR, lost seats (-4 and -5 respectively), as did DéFI (-2) and the cdH (-3); Ecolo (+7) and the PTB (+6), on the other hand, gained seats.
Flemish side
On the Flemish side, the Open Vld lost two seats, and the CD&V lost one. Groen won one, making it the most popular Flemish party (with 4 out of 17 Flemish seats).
French-speaking side
The following people were (re)elected to the PS (17; -4): outgoing Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, Secretary of State Fadila Laanan, Minister Rachid Madrane; Delphine Chabbert, Marc-Jean Ghyssels; Ridouane Chahid; Leila Agic; Isabelle Emmery; Jamal Ikazban; Nadia El Yousfi; Julien Uyttendaele; Mohamed Ouriaghli; Emin Özkara; Sevjket Temiz; Hasan Koyuncu; Ibrahim Dönmez. Philippe Close has resigned his seat, and will be replaced by Martin Casier. Mohamed Ouriaghli will not combine his parliamentary office with that of city alderman: he resigned the latter position on Monday.
A big upheaval occurred for Ecolo (15 elected officials; +7). Incumbent MPs Alain Maron, Barbara Trachte, Magali Plovie, Matteo Segers, Zoé Genot, and Ahmed Mouhssin will be joined by Kalvin Soiresse Njall, Rajae Maouane, Tristan Roberti, Isabelle Pauthier, Barbara de Radiguès, John Pitseys, Marie Lecocq, Hicham Talhi, and Farida Tahar.
As for the MR (13; -5), six newly-elected representatives will appear in the regional assembly: Alexia Bertrand; Geoffroy Coomans de Brachène; Clémentine Barzin; David Leisterh; Aurélie Czekalski, and Latifa Aït Baala.
At DéFI (10; -2), in addition to Bernard Clerfayt, Joëlle Maison, Cécile Jodogne, Marc Loewenstein, Emmanuel De Bock, and Michaël Vossaert, the parliamentary group will welcome Marie Nagy, who has previously sat in the regional parliament for a different party. DéFI also welcomes Christophe Magdalijns, former acting mayor of Auderghem; Jonathan de Patoul; and Ariane de Lobkowicz-d’Ursel.
At the PTB, Youssef Handichi and Françoise De Smedt will be joined by eight newcomers: Francis Dagrin; Stéphanie Koplowic; Jean-Pierre Kerckhofs; Elisa Groppi; Petya Obolensky; Caroline De Bock; Leila Lahssaini; and Luc Van Cauwenberghe.
