No non-Belgian was directly elected to Tervuren town council on Sunday, 13 October. Overall turnout sank to just 56%. And Flemish liberal and lawyer Thomas Geyns claimed victory after narrowly gaining the most preference votes for Voor Tervuren, the alliance of Flemish Catholics and liberals.
Turnout dropped drastically to just 56% when all potential Tervuren voters are counted. Town hall had previously not registered 2,928 eligible non-Belgian Tervurenaars — making up 20% out of 14,305 registered voters. Foreigners are only permitted to vote after registration.
If non-registered foreigners are ignored, turnout falls to 67%, compared to 91.6% in 2018. This steep decline is due to Flemish local elections no longer being compulsory. All parties saw a fall in their votes. The steepest cut, though, was 31.5% for the N-VA. The Flemish nationalists appear to have lost to Geyns, who took a tough stance on protecting the Dutch language and Tervuren’s Flemish character.
Geyns campaigned longer, harder and more professionally. His campaign appears to have been the most expensive. And the N-VA was likely hit by Tervuren’s Vlaams Belang voters, traditionally supporting N-VA in town elections, staying at home.
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With 11 seats behind him, Flemish liberal and lawyer Thomas Geyns now has 15 days to form a majority with at least 14 out of 27 councilors. This opens the path to the job of mayor, worth €100,000 per year. Establishing a coalition may require offering either Flemish nationalist N-VA or Groen politicians at least 2 out of the 6 available alderperson posts, each carrying a salary of €60,000 per annum.
But other options are possible. Geyns received just 50 more preference votes than Flemish Catholic Kristina Eyskens. Tervuren’s Flemish liberals gained one less seat than the Catholics. In a political deal, Eyskens could oblige Geyns to give her the last two or three years of the mayorship in return for support. Eyskens’ future political moves in Tervuren remain uncertain. The daughter of a former prime minister may also step up to a seat in the federal parliament under a 19th-century Belgian law.
Traditionally, Tervuren mayors have continued their second jobs. Out of the equation are Tervuren Unie and Volt, which together gained 4 seats. Fearing ‘political suicide’, Flemish politicians traditionally do not work together with multilingual list Tervuren Unie. And Geyns has specifically ruled out coalition talks with Tervuren Unie and its European partner Volt. Following electoral rules on compatibility, Volt is to receive 1 seat. That one seat effectively leads to the first non-Belgian sitting in the town council since the Dutch left in 1830.
The full list of results and elected councilors can be found here: https://okt24.vlaanderenkiest.be/#/gemeente/24104
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