Drunkenness is no excuse for racist remarks, Cristen-Democratisch & Vlaams (CD&V) president Sammy Mahdi commented on Friday, following statements by his Vooruit counterpart Conner Rousseau.
Defending himself to the media on Thursday evening after being questioned by the federal judicial police in Ghent, the Flemish socialist had referred to his remarks, which targeted the Roma community, as "drunk talk."
"Alcohol allows a lot, but not putting racist and totalitarian thoughts into your mouth. 'Drunk talk' can in no way embellish ugly thoughts apparently waiting for a valve to come out," Mr.Mahdi said on Facebook.
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Both CD&V and Vooruit are members of Belgium's coalition government.
The CD&V president said he had hesitated for a long time before reacting publicly. At first, he thought about remaining silent "until this morning, when I was asked if I would react if Tom Van Grieken (president of Vlaams Belang) talked about bludgeoning and brown scum.
"Or if Dries Van Langenhove (former Vlaams Belang MP prosecuted for racist remarks) were to talk to high-ranking people about a case in which he was implicated. Of course I'd react. So why not here?" he said.
Mr. Mahdi takes issue with the reduction of people to their skin colour. "From 'all benches are racist' to 'brown scum', it's a vision of the world that makes you want to vomit, even without swallowing litres of alcohol," he said.
