The Brussels Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs is examining drug-related violence in the Belgian capital and has invited federal ministers, police and health officials to testify in a hearing.
Several stakeholders in medical and social drug addiction care will be invited to the inquiry after MPs voted to organise a joint meeting with the Health Committee in the coming weeks.
A vote was also held on the possibility of inviting the Federal Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin (MR) and Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V). The proposal was accepted with eight votes in favour and four abstentions from the MR party. Invitations will now accordingly be sent to the two ministers.
The committee also plans to organise a visit for its members to the new police station at Brussels-Midi. They will hear from the heads of the police zones, with a focus on Brussels-Midi and Brussels-North, which face greater challenges related to drug trafficking.
Tensions in the room
The question of possibly hearing from federal ministers caused tension in the committee last week during a long discussion about the agenda that took place behind closed doors.
The Socialist Party (PS) accused committee chair Aline Godfrin (MR) of committing a serious breach of the rules by refusing a vote behind closed doors on a possible hearing of the federal ministers of interior and justice on drug-related violence in the Brussels Region. Godfrin questioned the appropriateness of such a hearing and wanted to submit the issue to the extended bureau.
The chairman of the parliament, Bertin Mampaka (MR), replied that a committee chairman should respond favourably to a request for a vote such as this, but also that the chairman's request for clarification was legally relevant. The invitations will therefore go ahead.
