In the municipality of Ninove in the East Flanders province, Guy D'haeseleer has been sworn in as Belgium's first mayor of the far-right Vlaams Belang party.
The Forza Ninove list, consisting of Vlaams Belang members, gained an absolute majority in the municipal elections in October. The new municipal council was installed on Thursday evening.
D'haeseleer won an absolute majority (47.4% of the vote, which translates to a narrow majority of 18 out of 35 seats) at the 13 October elections, meaning that the new Ninove council team consists entirely of Forza Ninove members.
"It's a historic evening," said D'haeseleer (Forza Ninove) at the installation meeting. "But I was even more emotional on election night, when the last polling station closed and we effectively secured that absolute majority."
After taking the oath as mayor, he stressed that this would be "the first time in many years" that Ninove would be led by someone who has "by far the greatest support among the population, which is how it should be."
Ninove's new mayor Guy D'haeseleer takes the oath at the installation of the new municipal council. Cerdit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Former mayor Tania De Jonghe (Positief Ninove/Open VLD) congratulated D'haeseleer on his absolute majority but also expressed concerns about "her" city being governed by a far-right mayor and council.
"I wish the team good luck, but of course I am also worried. From what has been said in the press over the past few weeks, I think [D'haeseleer] will clash with the limits of the legislation on certain points."
Some 50 Ninove residents of the collective '054' handed out protest pamphlets outside, but the swearing-in ceremony was not disrupted.
