Preview of Antwerp municipality: opposition sees largely divided majority (Antwerp)
Ilse van Dienderen (Green): “Connection shattered”
“The major connection between the Antwerp coalition partners N-VA, Vooruit and Open Vld is shattered,” says Green party leader Ilse van Dienderen. “The strong criticism of Open Vld party leader Claude Marinower on alderman of Culture Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA) was the best example of this. The internal division has been clear for some time, but now with these savings it is once again clear.”
“The arrogance of power has also come to the fore. There is no acceptance to the opposition, but also not to the midfield. You see how culture ships Ait Daoud and now also youth ships Jinnih Beels (Vooruit), handle this midfield very skillfully. Beels is simply antagonizing the youth sector. Proposals and studies from citizens’ movements are simply destroyed. This city council has lost touch with the city.”
Mie Branders (PVDA): “Dogmatic”
“The city council is looking for 300 million euros, but did this rather dogmatically and from behind the computer,” says PVDA municipal councilor Mie Branders. “The professional field was not involved in this in any way. Each ships looked at his or her powers. The result is that one does not know what the other is actually reducing. As a result, they also have no insight into the impact of all their decisions on the people of Antwerp.”
“And now too, the strong shoulders are escaping the savings, such as the port. The money will again be sought from ordinary Antwerp residents who will have to pay more for, among other things, their garbage bags. Some time ago, the municipality indexed the council members’ attendance fees by 25%, but that is not being touched now, while the rest have to make do with less.”
“The aldermen were silent about where the blows fall in these cuts. That is with the staff, the civil society organization and in the cultural field. A debate about that is impossible.”
Sam Van Rooy (Vlaams Belang): “Gap is widening”
“The gap within the council and between the majority parties has widened with these cuts, especially between N-VA on the one hand and coalition partners Vooruit and Open Vld on the other,” says Vlaams Belang party leader Sam Van Rooy. “The overview of the main parties disagreeing is getting longer and longer: war on drugs, tunnel Scheldekaaien, city poets, mobility, cutbacks in culture.”
“There is now attention for the savings in culture, but the real problem is that the people of Antwerp can no longer pay for his or her shopping cart. Tens of millions of euros are invested in Antwerp’s diversity policy, but that will not be touched. Alderman Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA) is going to Morocco to support beekeepers there with Antwerp money. In the meantime, everything is becoming more expensive for the people of Antwerp: garbage bags, parking and swimming.”
“The opening of the Museum of Fine Arts generated 400,000 euros. That is the amount paid by the city of Antwerp alone. This is an expensive propaganda party for the N-VA.”
Sam Voeten (CD&V): “Cutting in midfield”
“This city council makes the wrong choices by cutting mainly in the middle,” says CD&V municipal councilor Sam Voeten. “This is so in culture as it is in youth work.”
“Savings are needed. I don’t deny that. I only see that some investments are being pushed back, but that no preparations are being made for the future.”
“It is not new that this group is divided. This has already been made clear in previous cases. Each ship is now drawing up a savings plan for its own security. Only I miss every connection. No global exercise has been made. One ship does not index the subsidies, the others do so with 2%, 4% or 6%. This is the best example of a lack of internal cohesion within the Antwerp university of applied sciences and that is a pity.”