“Many burgomasters will be jealous of me”: in an atypical College, there will soon be only female aldermen
Local elections
Today, in addition to four women, he still has one male alderman in his college, but in the next legislature, Kraainem’s burgomaster Bertrand Waucquez will be working with just five women. An advantage, according to the women concerned: “We find it easier to compromise, which is essential in view of the atypical composition of our college, where two members of the opposition also sit.” But what does the mayor think?
Although it is not yet clear whether Kraainem-Unie will govern on its own in the next legislature – Mayor Bertrand Waucquez’s party won an absolute majority on Sunday with 12 of the 23 seats – the composition of the municipal college is already known. In fact, in communes with facilities, aldermen are elected directly on the basis of the number of preference votes they receive, regardless of whether they belong to the majority or the opposition. Those with the most votes thus obtain an alderman’s post.
So we already know what the future municipal college will look like. For the time being, Kraainem-Unie will have two alderwomen in addition to Burgomaster Waucquez: Marie-France Constant and Vinciane Cardinael. Later, after the official appointment of the mayor by the governor, Nathalie Woitrin (Kraainem-Unie) will also join the college. In communes with facilities where the mayor is not appointed, there is no alderman. During the current legislature, Waucquez was appointed.
As for the MR+Défi+Ind. opposition cartel, which should logically remain in opposition, the current first alderwoman, Elisabeth de Foestraets-d’Ursel (MR), will retain her position and will be joined by Françoise Devleeschouwer (Défi). Today, this cartel has three seats on the college, but after the installation of the new council, it will retain only two, having lost two seats compared to 2018. As a result, the future municipal college will be made up exclusively of women, with the exception of the mayor.
An enviable situation
“Finding myself surrounded by five wonderful women every week? A luxury situation, isn’t it? I think a lot of male mayors will be jealous (laughs),” jokes Bertrand Waucquez. “Women have always played an important role in Kraainem. Before me, our municipality already had two female mayors: Véronique Caprasse and Dorothée Cardon de Lichtbuer. There’s still a lot of talk about the inequalities between men and women, but here we’re proving that women actually have more impact than men (laughs).”
“It’s not a subject for me”.
“Do I find it special? Not really,” says Elisabeth de Foestraets-d’Ursel. “For me, it doesn’t matter whether there are men or women in the college. It’s the electorate that directly elected us.”
(see photo)
Nathalie Woitrin (left), Marie-France Constant and Vinciane Cardinael are the three aldermen of Kraainem-Unie.
“I hadn’t really thought about it yet, but yes, it’s special,” admits Nathalie Woitrin (Kraainem-Unie), who will become an alderwoman after Waucquez’s official appointment. “Along with my future colleagues and party mates Vinciane and Marie-France, we have a good relationship with our mayor. It was therefore a wish for us. Bertrand is someone who can collaborate with everyone, so even with five women at his side, it will go very well.”
Teamwork for the benefit of the community
Vinciane Cardinael is looking forward to the next legislature. “At Kraainem-Unie, women have always been very involved in running the municipality. It therefore seems a logical evolution, after all the years of commitment we have devoted to Kraainem. Personally, I think it’s very positive that there are five women in the college. One of the advantages is that we work well as a team and know how to put our egos aside. This can only be good for our community.
Community life
Current and future alderwoman Marie-France Constant sees a big advantage in this female composition of the college. “I think women find it easier to compromise. It’s not a detail in a college where two members of the opposition also sit. In Kraainem-Unie, women are generally very involved. And we all play an active role in community life. This certainly helped us in Sunday’s elections.
Governing alone?
And what does Bertrand Waucquez think of the possibility of governing alone with Kraainem-Unie? “Nothing has been decided yet,” he replies cautiously. “We’re not ruling anything out. The next few days will bring more clarity.”
Apart from Kraainem-Unie and the MR-Défi-Ind. cartel, voters also had the choice between Pro Kraainem (which took two seats) and the N-VA, which won no seats.
