Grimbergen –
Grimberg municipal councilor Martine De Coppel (Renewal, 62) resigns from all her political mandates. On Friday she resigned as city council president after making a racist statement during a digital city council.
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“All strangers gone”. Those three heavily loaded words echoed in the background during the digital city council on Thursday evening through the microphone of the city council president, who “accidentally got up”. It ultimately made her position untenable. The Grimberg opposition parties Groen, SP.A and CD&V immediately demanded her resignation as chairman of the city council. And that came immediately after the city council on Thursday evening after crisis consultations within the Renewal party.
However, the majority parties Open VLD and N-VA still considered that, just like the opposition parties, insufficient. And so she now completely resigned from all her political mandates. “I made a reservation during the moment myself,” says Martine De Coppel. “It does have major consequences. It was wrong and formulated incorrectly. I certainly didn’t mean this. ”
De Coppel is said to have taken over the ship’s office from party member Eric Naegels in December 2021, so that will not happen either. She also resigns as a city councilor and as a member of the Special Committee of the Social Service of the OCMW.
“The statement was completely against the program and the policy vision of Renewal”, says chairman Chantal Lauwers of Renewal. “There was a meeting with the Renewal Board on Saturday morning. In that context, Martine has decided to resign from all her political mandates and return them to the party. The Renewal Board would like to expressly thank Martine for her many years of selfless commitment. ”
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