Sarah Schlitz (Ecolo) resigned as Belgium's State Secretary for Gender Equality on Wednesday morning after her position became untenable following revelations that she lied about using her personal logo on government-subsidised projects.
"I committed a mistake for which I have apologised," Schlitz stated on RTBF radio after the Flemish nationalist party N-VA accused her of displaying her logo rather than her department's on an exhibition website at the Dossin barracks, a transit camp of the Second World War.
The story did not stop there as further reporting revealed that various calls for projects launched by the Federal Government had required applicants to explicitly mention Schlitz's support on any of their future work.
The Chamber of Representatives was set to vote on Thursday on whether she could continue in her post. But rather than wait to face Belgium's parliamentarians, Schlitz instead resigned on Wednesday morning. She told RTBF that "this resignation is my decision" and claimed to retain the support of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
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The former State Secretary also stated that she was "not angry with anyone" but did reveal that the ongoing controversy "currently occupies the whole of politics and media," which had quickly become "unbearable" for Schlitz. Moreover, she had also been in the limelight as it was discovered that a member of her cabinet had compared the N-VA to the Nazis.
It now remains to be seen who will be appointed to replace her, with the decision up to French-speaking green party Ecolo. Indeed, Schlitz's department is one of their ministerial portfolios in government.
N-VA MP Sander Loones, who first lodged the complaint, declared that the Federal Government "could save money" by not replacing her, suggesting instead that her competences might be handed over to a more senior minister.
