Federal MPs will now be able to respond to a “personal fact” during the weekly question session.
This decision, announced by House Speaker Peter De Roover during a plenary session on Thursday, was made on Wednesday during a conference of presidents – the body responsible for organising parliamentary work.
The clarification follows an incident last week involving Georges-Louis Bouchez, the president of the MR party, whose comments about the pager attack in Lebanon sparked controversy in the House. In an interview with Radio Judaïca Bouchez described the attack, which targeted several thousand Hezbollah members and was attributed to Israeli forces, as a “stroke of genius.”
À #LaChambre, @GLBouchez importe le chaos, le bazar, le chambard-coup-de-génie, le tohu-bohu, le boxon qu'il a l'habitude de créer au Conseil Communal de Mons. Interrompant sans cesse et successivement @RajaeMaouane, @LacroixCh et @peter_mertens, ce moment vidéo où, contre… pic.twitter.com/PlhOlxb45P
— michel henrion (@michelhenrion) September 26, 2024
Questions from Rajae Maouane (Ecolo-Groen), Christophe Lacroix (PS), and Peter Mertens (PTB) concerning the situation in Lebanon specifically called out Bouchez, expressing indignation at his remarks. Bouchez attempted to respond multiple times, interrupting from his seat and eventually walking up to the speaker’s podium but was not given the floor.
The conference of presidents has now agreed to allow a reply for “personal charge” if a member is specifically mentioned by a colleague for “insults, lies, accusations,” De Roover specified.
“If your name is mentioned during a question, you can raise your hand. You do not need to use any kind of props to get noticed,” added the House Speaker. The issue of a personal fact will only be addressed after the government’s response and the reply from the MP who posed the question.
