Municipal elections: MR and PS celebrate wins in Brussels while Greens lose out

Belgian centre-right party Mouvement Réformateur (MR) followed on from its success in June's regional elections with several key wins in Brussels' municipal elections on Sunday, largely at the expense of green party Ecolo/Groen.

Results from yesterday's poll show a dominant MR in many of the capital's southern municipalities, while socialist party PS scored well in the north of the city and in Brussels-City itself, where Philippe Close will remain mayor.

Close's PS-Vooruit list held its ground to come top in the polls in Brussels-City with 28% of the vote. MR gained five extra seats on the city's municipal council, coming second with 21%. Close will now lead talks with MR and Les Engagés/CD&V to form a majority on the city council, pushing Ecolo/Groen to the sidelines after it came fourth behind far-left PTB/PVDA.

Green party Ecolo/Groen were defeated by MR in Forest and Watermael-Boitsfort. In Ixelles, Ecolo and MR came neck-and-neck with 13 council seats. Ecolo mayor Christos Doulkeridis resigned on Monday, while MR announced a partnership with PS and Les Engagés to achieve a majority in Ixelles.

In Uccle, mayor Boris Dilliès' list came first but failed to secure an absolute majority, meaning it is likely he will have to work with second-placed Ecolo/Groen on the council. There was a major upset in Schaerbeek, where PS came top, bringing an end to Bernard Clerfayt's 24-year tenure as mayor, with his list coming just fifth in the poll.

Some 517,062 residents of the Brussels region cast their vote on Sunday - a slight decline compared with six years ago, with participation falling slightly below the 80% mark. Turnout was lowest in Molenbeek (75%) and highest in Auderghem (85%).

In Wallonia, the results also confirmed voter preferences shown in June’s elections, albeit with the occasional surprise. Centrist Les Engagés and liberal MR parties – who have formed a governing coalition in the Walloon region – again both achieved strong results.

But one of the most anticipated duels was in Mons where MR president Georges-Louis Bouchez went head to head with outgoing PS mayor Nicolas Martin. The socialist is looking set to be re-elected for a new term after achieving a personal score of 15,152 votes, trumping Georges-Louis Bouchez’s nominal 7,148 votes.

The PS also remains the leading party in Charleroi and Liège. There were few surprises in Charleroi, with the PS retaining the same number of seats (26), with the socialists led for the first time in 12 years by Thomas Dermine, the protégé of outgoing mayor Paul Magnette. The national politician had placed himself third on the list due to his opposition position in the federal government following June’s elections, but has confirmed that he will take on the mayoral role.

Walloon capital Namur was the scene for another personal best with Les Engagés notching up a record 43.6% of the vote.

Party president Maxime Prévot retained his mayoral role and strengthened his party’s position with one seat away from an absolute majority. The centrists have formed a coalition with MR at the expense of Ecolo, which had been part of the previous legislature coalition, but lost seats in the latest elections.

“Apart from the PTB, with which no alliance was possible, this future majority of 30 seats (23+7) out of 47 therefore unites the two parties that emerged victorious from the ballot boxes, admittedly in different proportions but with a clear signal from the voters,” said Les Engagés in a press release.

Prévot told his jubilant supporters in Namur that they were "the democratic party that is progressing". He also acknowledged that as party president he will be busy at the national level as negotiations resume. "Belgians are waiting for a federal government to be set up quickly."

In Flanders, it was a good night for Christian Democrat party CD&V, which came top in about 120 Flemish municipalities, including an absolute majority in about 50.

Bart de Wever's N-VA party remained top in Antwerp, behind PVDA and Vooruit. N-VA also secured wins in Hasselt, Aalst and Sint-Niklaas.

In Ghent, the Voor Gent list - a collaboration between Open VLD and Vooruit - won with 32% of the vote, and there were no big surprises in Bruges either, where the list led by mayor Dirk De Fauw (CD&V) came top with 38% of the vote.

Open VLD lost its dominant position in Ninove and Ostend, losing to Vlaams Belang and Vooruit respectively.

Photo: Hatim Kaghat/Belga