| Are you an expat? |
|
| 24-08-2006 | |
 Since 2000, being a European citizen, you are allowed to vote for the local elections. As I work in the European Parliament and many of my friends are expats - I hear a lot of things people are worried about or want to change in Brussels. I don't have the means to translate my complete website into English and French so that's why I wrote this article explaining why you could consider voting for me. The French version will follow later.My party, the sp.a in Brussels, has published a magazine in English introducing our priorities, our candidates and our projects for the region. As a candidate in Brussels-City, my task is to make sure these priorities also find their way to the local level in my commune! Sp.a are the Flemish Socialists and Social Democrats, present in government in the Brussels region, Flanders and the Federal Government. We hope this booklet – our special English language edition of our Brussels party magazine ‘spots’ – will give you a first insight into what the sp.a and its candidates in Brussels stand for. Here you can find the booklet. Maybe you received it already or found it on Place Luxembourg? I am currently distributing it around the commune, but you can also contact me directly if you wish to receive a hard copy. Candidate in Brussels In Brussels-City we decided to make a progressive list with groen! and spirit. Our 3 parties are eager to give Brussels its value back. In the end, it is the capital of all of us and could be a beautiful place. But we need a progressive view on politics and think logically. I am placed 16th on the joint list sp.a-spirit-groen. The list is headed by Brussels Minister for Public Transport - Pascal Smet. A 28-year old Hungarian-Belgian I became active in Brussels politics when I joined the sp.a youth movement ‘animo’ - a progressive movement. After a year I became president of the local Brussels regional chapter. We made sure that the Brussels Capital region will finally start with real nightbus transport. And animo takes pride in our actions around energy, fair housing, a clean city and making sure our mother party doesn't forget youth in Belgium and Brussels. My parents live in Antwerp and I moved to Brussels in 2001 after having studied as the first one of our family at university. With my Masters degree in European Politics I was able to start working as a policy assistant in the European Parliament for MEP Edith Mastenbroek (Dutch socialist). Before my studies I lived a year in Brasil. Due to my background I speak Dutch, French, English and Portuguese but my Hungarian could be better. My local priorities in Brussels In a nutshell: I strive for a clean commune. Brussels should be an example for Belgium but until today there is just one public toilet and, as a consequence, we have a "manneke pis" on every corner of the street. Garbage management should also be reviewed and the City must make sure people don't dump their waste on the streets. In addition, the City should focus on safety. Not by making Brussels a police state but by bringing the police officers to the streets. Too often one sees police cars racing by but not among the people. sp.a wants more police men or women on bicycles so it is easy to approach them and vice versa. Housing becomes problematic as well in Brussels. Today there are people who are already 3 years on a waiting list for a social house. Brussels should also stimulate small scale initiatives such as neighbourhood barbeques and people decorating their houses with flowers. Small changes can make a big diiference. But, overall, Brussels has to start acting as a city. Today we have 19 communes, 19 administrations with different rules and procedures. You all know how long it took for you to register... One cannot call that modern management. Time to make some changes! If you want to learn more about my priorities, or the full sp.a programme, feel free to drop me an e-mail: Dit e-mail adres is beschermd door spambots, u heeft Javascript nodig om dit onderdeel te kunnen bekijken And... the links section of this website points you towards the websites of other sp.a- candidates that are running in other communes! |