Hadja Lahbib comes from a family originally from Kabylie in Algeria, she was born in 1970 in Boussu in the Borinage. A detail that the president of the MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez, underlined. Les Francs Borains, the football club of which he is the president, is Boussu’s team.
Hadja Lahbib who lives in Schaerbeek has a degree in journalism and communication from the Free University of Brussels (ULB) and has worked for years for the French-speaking public radio and television station RTBF. Initially, she was often a special correspondent in Afghanistan and the Middle East, but later served as a newscaster for 20 years.
On the Arte Belgique channel, she ensured the conception, with Patrick de Lamalle, and the presentation of two monthly socio-cultural programs, the Quay of the Belgians and the Flemish Kaaia bicultural program in which writers David Van Reybrouck, Dimitri Verhulst, Stefan Hertmans and Bart Moeyaert have collaborated, among others.
Hadja Lahbib paid tribute to her predecessor (Sophie Wilmès editor’s note) with whom she spoke at length. “My conversations with her helped me make my decision,” she explained, emphasizing the bond of “sorority” that had been created between the two women. The new minister was not known to be close to the MR. She did not comment on her commitment to the party. “I am neither left nor right, I am fundamentally free”, she said before adding that she remained “captain of her soul”.
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