Charles Spapens (PS) has been appointed as the new mayor of the Brussels municipality of Forest. The future ruling coalition in Forest presented their coalition agreement on Monday.
Following 14 October's local elections, the new municipal council in Forest will be led by a left-wing coalition of the Socialist Party (PS), the greens (Ecolo-Groen) and the Belgian Workers' Party (PTB).
On Monday morning, leaders of the coalition parties presented their political programme and division of responsibilities within the new council.
With PS taking the mayor role, radical leftist PTB are taking charge of housing and public cleanliness, and ecolo-groen handling the CPAS department, in charge of social welfare.
The PS-Vooruit list, led by future mayor Charles Spapens, will have three councillors, to be appointed at the local AG section.
These councillors (known in Belgium as aldermen) will manage departments including economic development, commerce, civil status, finance, personnel, communication, culture, sports, education, early childhood, extracurricular activities, youth, social cohesion, elderly affairs, public works, animal welfare, and urban planning (a shared responsibility).
Ecolo-Groen will lead the CPAS, with Séverine de Laveleye proposed for the role, and have two other roles. Alain Mugabo (Ecolo) and Flo Flamme (Groen) will handle mobility including parking and municipal roads, urbanism, climate, environment, urban planning, ecological transition, green spaces, energy, urban revitalisation, and citizen participation.
The PTB will have three councillors: Simon de Beer, Oumnia Berrahal, and Jacyara Farias De Azevedo. They will oversee housing, property management, municipal properties; employment, social economy, population, public cleanliness, citizen participation (a shared responsibility), prevention, health/social affairs, and equal rights.
Charles Spapens noted that the three coalition partners, who together won 67% of the vote, have concluded "a solid, ambitious, and responsible majority agreement" aimed at "addressing major challenges in the municipality based on principles of social justice, environmental justice, and budgetary strictness."
