Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) struck a more conciliatory tone at a parliamentary hearing on Monday regarding her role in granting visas to an Iranian delegation for the Brussels Urban Summit.
"I want to apologise for my lack of clarity," Lahbib told MPs as she attempted to convince her partners in government that she should not step down as minister.
Her partial apology came in the run-up to Thursday’s vote of no-confidence, filed by the Flemish nationalist party N-VA. They accuse Lahbib of lying to parliament when previously, and unsuccessfully, she tried to defend the incident.
Lahbib had appeared alongside Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at a parliamentary committee hearing on Wednesday to justify her approval of visas for a controversial delegation of Iranian officials attending an international summit in Brussels. The event was organised under the auspices of Brussels’ Secretary of State Pascal Smet (Vooruit), who has since resigned over the incident.
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But whereas Smet assumed partial responsibility for the error when stepping down, Lahbib sought to put the entire blame on Smet, thereby absolving herself of the need to resign. She defended the Iranian visas, citing the need for "realpolitik" and insisting that it was necessary to avoid "humiliating" the Iranian regime.
But the Foreign Affairs Minister failed to convince MPs, especially the other parties in government with her. In a bid to secure their support for the parliamentary vote of no-confidence on Thursday, the minister softened her stance on Monday’s hearing.
While refuting the N-VA claims that she lied to parliament, Lahbib did apologise and accepted that "there is room for improvement" in how she handled the incident. "I acknowledge that certain inaccuracies on my part have caused confusion for which I am responsible," she stated.
Too little, too late?
Whether Lahbib has done enough to convince the other parties in government to support her during Thursday’s vote remains to be seen.
Ecolo, Groen, PS and Vooruit have all been critical of Lahbib and said that she has not been transparent enough. These criticisms were renewed in Monday's hearing.
The French-speaking Green MP Samuel Cogolati (Ecolo) said that "we have not received the necessary guarantees to restore full confidence (in Lahbib)." Malik Ben Achour (PS) accused her of lying to parliament, "which now sees you forever tagged as a liability."
Vooruit, the Flemish centre-left party to which Pascal Smet belongs, appeared more forgiving provided Lahbib "apologises to both the Federal and Brussels Governments."
Translation of tweet: "Hadja Lahbib has apologised but the question is what for. Everyone can say sorry, but the question remains: What for? And what will she do about it? For us this is essential." Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit)
The biggest obstacle for Lahbib may be her liberal party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez. Having constantly been critical of the other parties in government, Bouchez might now appear hypocritical for asking to “move on” from the scandal.
MR representative David Clarinval had reportedly urged ministers to publicly back Lahbib, a request that many in government turned down. But Bouchez has been forceful in his support of Lahbib, who he hand-picked for the role. In the event that she has to resign, he seems prepared to pull his party’s support from the coalition government.
This would deprive the government of a majority in parliament, leading to a political crisis one year before the federal elections in 2024.
