Julie Taton (MR) will not be allowed to run in the municipal elections in Mons en Mieux on 13 October. The former Miss Belgium has been making headlines across Belgium for days, but what is happening?
Taton was already elected as a Federal MP after the elections in June with more than 23,000 preferential votes. The former model and TV presenter now also wanted to stand in the municipal elections: she would get the second place on the MR's Mons en Mieux list, headed by party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez.
She was seen as the ace of Bouchez's sleeve in Mons: the popular ex-Miss Belgium and TV personality was meant to attract more voters for his Mons en Mieux list, so he could take over the mayor's role from PS.
To do that, however, Taton would have to leave her hometown in Walloon Brabant and move to Mons. She tried to change her official address to an apartment in Mons – owned by Bouchez – but the local administration refused to domicile her because she was never present when the police came to check.
Police visits
On social media, Bouchez stressed that "the sole police visit took place when Julie was on holiday" and added that "registering a domicile does not mean house arrest."
They took the case to the Mons Court of Appeal and argued that the city PS-Ecolo administration – currently run by PS mayor Nicolas Martin – violated some rules in the handling of the case. "The city violated its own regulations and several general principles of law."
On Wednesday, however, the court ruled that four home visits for the domiciliation were duly carried out by the police. They also went door to door, which was not mandatory. The visits took place between 21 and 29 July 2024 – when Taton was on holiday, which she had forgotten to report to the authorities.
According to the court, the city's decision not to include Julie Taton on the electoral roll was not taken arbitrarily, but based on that investigation.
MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez. Credit: Belga/Laurie Dieffembacq
The court also ruled that the police investigation was not used by the PS-Ecolo majority in Mons. This means that it has not been conclusively shown that Taton would have been treated differently from other citizens in similar circumstances, as her lawyers tried to argue.
For Mons mayor Nicolas Martin (PS), the court of appeal's decision shows that "justice is the same for all," he said on Wednesday afternoon. Contrary to the "false statements" of the representatives of the MR/Mons en Mieux list as well as the "virulent and unfair attacks against the Mons police" in recent weeks, "the court of appeal has recognised the quality of the work and the impartiality of the Mons authorities and their services."
"This judgment puts an end to a sad saga orchestrated by the MR for too many weeks," Martin said.
