Petra De Sutter, one of the leading politicians of the Flemish ecologist Groen party, wants to quit politics to become chancellor of UGent university, she confirmed in an announcement on Monday evening.
De Sutter is Deputy Prime Minister in the outgoing Federal Government and won 65,000 votes during the 9 June elections. While it was expected that she would run for president of Groen, she decided against it. However, De Sutter has also had a scientific career. Until 2019, she was head of the Department of Reproductive Medicine at Ghent University Hospital.
It is to those scientific roots that she now wants to return. With running mate Professor Herwig Reynaert, dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, she is submitting a candidacy to become chancellor of the university.
In an announcement, she said she understands the potential disappointment. "I want to thank those who voted for me from the bottom of my heart. What we have achieved in politics – from protecting parcel deliverers to affordable telecom and more environmentally friendly politics – is a shared achievement. Thanks to that trust, I now want to make a difference again through education and science."
The first round of the chancellor election will be held in April. If De Sutter makes it, her national political career will have spanned 11 years. She became a senator in 2014 and an MEP in 2019.
