Amid electoral fraud allegations in the Brussels municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, outgoing Mayor Emir Kir will not appeal the Court of Justice's decision to annul the results as he is confident his Liste du Bourgmestre will also comfortably win a re-run.
Kir's Liste du Bourgmestre won the local elections in October with 50.5% of the vote – among the largest vote-share increases in the country. However, the results were declared invalid after it was revealed that "irregularities" had occurred with proxy votes (where voters assign their vote to a trusted person when they cannot vote).
The court's decision could be appealed until Wednesday, but Kir instead declared that he preferred to opt to organise new elections and "place his fate in the hands of the voters".
"You don't change a winning team, the Liste du Bourgmestre team! The strength of our popular support, the electorate will be our way to appeal," Kir said. "Despite having solid arguments to put forward, we will not be lodging an appeal with the Council of State. We will go to the vote instead!"
'11th election'
In addition to the proxy votes, reports also emerged of voters being accompanied by one or two other people in the voting booth, and some (mostly elderly) people were accompanied by at least one member of the Liste du Bourgmestre, which is illegal. Additionally, party members were reportedly trying to convince voters waiting in the queue to vote for them.
The Court of State also noted that many of the 243 proxies granted to persons deemed to be abroad on election day had been completed in the same handwriting. Kir, however, dismissed these claims in a speech at a Liste du Bourgmestre meeting on Wednesday evening and called the Court's decision to annul the election results "grossly unfair, ubiquitous and politicised".
"We won nearly 5,000 votes: a majority in terms of seats and numbers, the best rate in Brussels, and now people are coming after us," he said, stressing that this is his 11th election and thanking everyone who voted for him or his list.
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode mayor Emir Kir. Credit: Belga/Laurie Dieffembacq
Underlining that there was "no shortage of arguments" against the Court's decision, Kir said that he decided not to appeal as it would take more than three months for the Council of State to make a judgment in the case. This, he said, would result in a long period of uncertainty for the people Saint-Josse, despite the "clear-cut election result" declaring him the winner.
Additionally, he called the decision "a denial of democracy" and said that the parties who filed a complaint (Ecolo, PS and Team Fouad Ahidar) were trying "to tarnish an undeniable victory by spreading malicious rumours."
The election re-run has to be organised within 50 days, meaning it would have to take place by 10 January at the latest. Saint-Josse is aiming for 5 January (the last Sunday within that timeframe) but an official date has yet to be confirmed by the Regional authorities.
Incontestable fraud
As the Court of Justice only took an administrative decision by confirming that there were sufficient irregularities to declare the election results invalid, Kir can remain a candidate for the new elections.
However, a judicial investigation is also ongoing at the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office into possible electoral fraud. Should Kir or other politicians on his list be found guilty in this investigation, this could affect their electability.
"It is sad for the people of Saint-Josse who will now have to go out again because a list – the Liste du Bourgmestre – cheated," Philippe Boïketé, local PS list leader, told The Brussels Times. "They did not appeal because they knew they had little chance of winning. In a way, they are recognising that the extent of the fraud is incontestable."
