The Flemish centre-left party Vooruit will hold leadership elections in 2023, a year earlier than anticipated, current president Conner Rousseau announced on Monday evening.
On VRT's De Ochtend programme, Rousseau further explained the decision to move these elections forward as "normally, this election should have taken place during the campaign for the regional elections (in 2024) and I don’t think it’s a good idea."
As a result, the date of this election will be set at the party congress scheduled for 3 December, with Rousseau calling on "those interested can make themselves known in the next few days."
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One accusation that may be levied towards Rousseau during a potential election campaign is that he pushed Meryame Kitir out of her position as Federal Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy due to tensions between her and staff members may come back to bite him.
However, even if no other candidate runs against Rousseau, the election may still remain important within Belgian politics, as many suspect the current socialist leader of wanting to bring his party into coalition with Flemish nationalist party N-VA at the regional level.
Earlier this year, Rousseau was heavily criticised over his comments about "not feeling in Belgium when driving through in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean," in a blatant attempt to appeal to the Flemish far-right.
With the leader of the centre-left party making these comments, it also shows how much the political debate has shifted to the right in Flanders.
