Coronavirus in Belgium: “There has been pressure from all sides” says Celine Nieuwenhuys, expert member of the GEES – © All rights reserved
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Real bomb or wet firecracker, the statements of Celine Nieuwenhuys on the set of Bonus Questions this Monday evening on the front page is likely to spark debate in the coming days.
Questioned by Sacha Daout on the question of the pressures undergone by the GEES, the Secretary General of the Federation of Social Services, and member of this group of experts charged with advising politicians in decisions around the covid-19 crisis, did not kick in but on the contrary, without dramatizing the thing : “On the one hand, there were pressures from all sides. Not just Horeca. Culture too, and a whole series of sectors strongly impacted by the crisis. It was legitimate that they could voice their concerns. On the other hand the experts do not make the decisions. Experts formulate proposals and policies make decisions. We have always been very clear. […] From the start we didn’t want to change our advice, our advice, because the politicians wanted to do something else. It seems to me that there has been pressure from all of them. Some have been heard more than others. Either by politicians or by experts.“
Experts are more oriented towards the common good
Is it normal that some people have a political ear more than others? Far from adding fuel to the fire, Celine Niewenhuis stays the course and remains consistent in her explanatory line, without tongue in cheek: ” What is interesting is to see that the experts are more oriented towards the common good because they do not have the issue of the electorate behind them. What is certain is that there has been pressure from certain CPAS federations and the fight against poverty which have been less heard than some from the economic sector.“.
And to finish his intervention on this aspect of the question by recalling that the request to transform part of the food aid by parcel into food checks, in particular in order to reduce the queues faced by the most precarious, had not for the moment not yet heard.
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To review the entire Questions as a bonus show, it’s here:
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