Open VLD approved the party’s federal and Flemish electoral lists in the province of Antwerp on Sunday. The liberals take second place on the parliamentary list with newcomer Liselotte Dupont, an Antwerp lawyer.
Source: BELGA
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In the summer of 2022, Dupont made national news when she was one of the first students to receive a Fayat grant from Prime Minister Jan Jambon. Thanks to this student financing program, a selection of excellent Flemish students have the opportunity to continue their studies at the most renowned universities in the world. Dupont went to Cambridge to study private international law.
It was previously announced that the list for the Chamber at Open VLD in Antwerp will be drawn by Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt, and the Flemish list by party chairman Tom Ongena. The second Flemish place goes to MP and Grobbendonks mayor Marianne Verhaert, and mayor of Merksplas Frank Wilrycx pushes.
Federally, second place is for Dupont and Mechelen mayor (and former Flemish minister) Bart Somers is the list pusher.
On the parliamentary list we also find Mechelen municipal councilor Pia Indigne in third place and Antwerp Open VLD youth chairman Magalie Verstraelen, also spokesperson for the Flemish Open VLD faction, in fourth place. Wim Claes, alderman in Kontich, takes fifth place. First successor is Mechel’s alderman Arthur Orlians.
Third place on the Flemish list goes to Koen Helsen, first alderman in Kapellen, and Mechelen alderman Alexander Vandersmissen, until recently acting mayor when Somers was minister, is in fourth place. The Liberals say they are still in discussions with a candidate for fifth place. The first successor is Bavo De Mol, district councilor in the Antwerp Merksem district.
“We clearly feel the desire among our candidates to get started,” says chairman Ongena. “These lists embody who we are. People who take initiative, do business and fight for the freedom of others. People who want to make the country work instead of blocking it and dividing it. I am very proud of this team.”
