(Brussels Times) The local council of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean will hold an extraordinary meeting on 6 September to vote on the candidature of new Vooruit councillor Saliha Raiss, Mayor Catherine Moureaux (PS) said on Tuesday.
Raiss’s nomination has gathered the necessary 23 signatures — a majority of the members of the council. However, this is an alternative majority, obtained thanks to the opposition since MR (Mouvement Réformateur), despite being a member of the coalition, refused to sign the nomination paper.
Asked on Tuesday morning on BX1, MR President Georges-Louis Bouchez said his party would not support Raiss’s nomination. He gave as his reason the neutrality of the state, charging that the Flemish Socialist councillor was violating it by wearing the Islamic headscarf while carrying out her duties.
