The PTB aims to be part of the future majority and even hold the mayoral office in Molenbeek. In Brussels, the Marxist party has identified Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles, and Forest as communes it hopes to secure strong results.
With one hundred activists and supporters gathered to applaud the top candidate, candidate-mayor Dirk De Block said on Saturday afternoon that PTB will edge into the top three parties in Molenbeek, alongside the PS, the MR. He was joined at the event by PTB president Raoul Hedebouw, who is touring municipalities where the party sees chances of entering a majority.
In June’s elections for the Chamber of Representatives, PTB candidate Nabil Boukili led in Molenbeek with 26.23% of the vote, surpassing the PS by nearly 300 votes.
Hedebouw hopes that his party will become incontournable ("impossible to overlook" in English) so that PTB can impose their agenda by being part of local majorities. Other parties are not eager to ally with the communists, Hedebouw told the activists. But he gave assurances that the party is better prepared now than in 2018.
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The PTB aims to reach an additional 4,000 people in Molenbeek to secure the desired vote share and calls for volunteers to spread the word and persuade the undecided.
Its campaign focuses on housing, which is a concern highlighted by many residents in a survey by the party. "A majority for change begins with listening, and that’s what we’ve done," said De Block. He proposes that future housing projects include at least one-third social housing and one-quarter affordable housing.
