Antwerp –
A general membership meeting and a four-person core team must defuse the unrest within the Antwerp department of Vooruit. After the dismissal of Alderman Tom Meeuws, a crisis of confidence has arisen between the top of the Antwerp department and the supporters.
In the presence of national Vooruit chairman Melissa Depraetere, the Antwerp party board met on Thursday evening in the Vooruit party office in Brussels. After just over two hours the meeting ended and, according to those present, it was calm and constructive. It indicates that a lot of phone calls and checks were made in the run-up to this party board.
Depraetere played a central role in this. She naturally wants peace to return quickly to the largest department in Flanders. The national and local elections are therefore not far away. In order to campaign, the party must rely on the efforts of militants. The latter is difficult if there is no trust.
After the meeting, the party management came up with an action plan. Board member Dirk Wiesé leads a team including Antwerp councilor Karim Bachar, Antwerp chairman of the Young Socialists Hiba Faraji and district councilor Frank Vercammen van Deurne. A fifth member had to be added, from trade union circles. But the socialist union has declined. This is for the basic reason that they do not want to be identified with a political party. Wiesé’s plan of action: the team visits all levels within Antwerp’s Vooruit, from the districts to the city hall.
Play apart
“We are in a not so obvious coalition, with N-VA as a major coalition partner,” says Wiesé. “Because we were internally divided, they could easily split us up. Unfortunately, that led to the resignation of Tom Meeuws as alderman.”
The conclusion was that something went wrong in the functioning of the party. No culprits were sought at the party board. “I will now, together with some party members, bring structure and discipline back to the party in Antwerp,” says Wiesé. “In the coming weeks we will visit all our operations. All our work will then be presented to the members at a general meeting in about a month.”
Such a general membership meeting was requested by many militants. The problem for the party was who would lead this. Alderman Jinnih Beels and Antwerps Vooruit chairman Sascha Luyckx are identified by the supporters as responsible for Meeuws’ dismissal. By sending Wiesé into the field with a team, it is not excluded that he will also lead the general meeting.
Power politics
The problems were not just internal. Meeuws referred to the power politics of N-VA within the majority. Aldermen Beels and Bachar and future alderman Tatjana Scheck must make themselves heard more within this coalition and defend the party positions. Decisions within the council of aldermen must be taken collegially.
Vooruit is still clearly hungover after the discussion about the trench on the Scheldt quays. Then this decision was pushed through through a vote. N-VA has a majority with six representatives. It was a one-off incident. Yet Vooruit has the feeling that the large coalition partner N-VA wants to control everything without the participation of the smaller partners.
The question remains whether all this will reassure supporters. There is currently a wait and see attitude. One point does come back: some of the militants lack an incentive to rehabilitate Meeuws.
