Mouvement Reformateur (MR) leader Georges-Louis Bouchez on Tuesday revealed the list of candidates for the Mons en Mieux ticket at the upcoming local elections, with Julie Taton in second place, despite the controversy over her place of residence.
Ms Taton had applied on 14 July to register her place of residence as Mons, ahead of the 31 July deadline by which all candidates must live in the town in which they run for election. However, she was informed on 1 August that her registration was rejected by the local council.
The council even advised her to reapply, according to Bouchez, who saw this as a "tactic to prevent her candidacy" since she had submitted her application on 14 July.
‘We'll get the domiciliation, but the challenge is to get it recognised as 14 July," Bouchez said on Tuesday.
“We have no reason to change the list, because we are within our rights,” he added.
An appeal against the refusal to recognise Taton’s residency in Mons has been filed with the Ministry of the Interior.
Mons en Mieux, headed by Bouchez, is a movement made up of people of different political persuasions from the 19 villages that make up the Greater Mons area.
