There is a new decree that brings some important changes to the local elections. Citizens are no longer obliged to vote. In addition, the largest list will automatically take the initiative to form a coalition and the largest list within the final coalition must provide the mayor. In the spirit of these changes, three parties in Ostend have decided to go to the elections together in October 2024. “We have been working together for 4.5 years now and we believe we have initiated an innovation and would like to continue this. We are therefore already telling voters clearly that we want to continue working together in the next coalition. We don’t say that after the elections, but we already say that clearly before the elections and are therefore on a list together,” says mayor Bart Tommelein.
For Bart Plasschaert of CD&V, the main reason to go to the elections together is because the three (of the four, editor’s note) coalition partners are often on the same wavelength anyway. “We meet regularly and we understand each other. There is also a great debate culture and I have a good feeling about that. You then have two options for going to the elections. Or you go to the elections separately and make a deal in advance as it often happens, but we choose to say clearly what we want with Proud of Ostend. They know what you get in return. We are not the largest parties, we can be honest about that. But that’s why it’s important to reinforce each other instead of shooting each other in the feet,” says Bart Plasschaert, who will be third on the list for CD&V.
Clarity
The members of Groen have also approved participation in the list by more than two thirds. “Politics is cooperation. We want to continue our current project and it would then be hypocritical to fight each other in an election campaign when we actually work very well together and want to continue to do so. We want to indicate to the voter that this project works and so we say this clearly to the voter,” says Natacha Waldmann van Groen.
The three parties have been discussing the spearheads on the basis of which they want to continue working for a long time. “This is a guideline for the campaign and the election. This is not an election manifesto. Tradition has it that we do this together with our members, but we have raised some points that are important to us. Above all, we want to tell a positive story,” says Waldmann. The spearheads include continuing the fight against poverty. “We have a poverty policy plan and we want to strengthen it where necessary. That is one of the biggest challenges. In addition, they also want to fight against segregation. Everyone is for us Ostend. We leave no one behind. We want to proactively ensure that everyone feels at home here and the Dutch language is a lever for this,” explains Waldmann. The spearheads also include housing with a focus on the neighbourhoods, mobility with a focus on peripheral car parks, heritage, but also opening up the meeting centres, further improving the environmental service to ensure continued attention for the local economy with additional employment.
Independents
The list of Proud of Ostend will consist of an Open Vld member in first place, being the current mayor Bart Tommein, who previously made it clear that he would like to continue his work as mayor. Groen will then be able to put a woman in second place, which will probably be Natacha Waldmann, and third place is already certain for Bart Plasschaert. The CD&V party board has already decided on this. There will be 19 places on the list for Open Vld, 12 for Groen and 7 for CD&V. There will also be three independents on the list. After the elections, the elected members will sit in the municipal council as one group.
