Pierre Kompany, who was the first black mayor in Belgium as well as the father of famous Belgian football player Vincent Kompany, briefly became the "first citizen of the country," as he stepped in as Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Kompany replaced Deputy Speaker Wouter Vermeersch (Vlaams Belang), who in turn is replacing the "real" Speaker of the House, Peter De Roover (N-VA). De Roover became a father last week, together with his partner, the acting mayor of Antwerp Els van Doesburg (N-VA), and is on paternity leave.
"King Kompany, the dad of Vincent Kompany, is briefly replacing him as the first citizen of the country. A beautiful moment," said Sammy Mahdi, leader of the Flemish Christian Democrats CD&V on social media.
Kompany is a Federal MP for the French-speaking centrist party Les Engagés, but during the hours-long plenary session, he stepped in for Vermeersch. "I needed a bathroom break, so I asked Mr Kompany to replace me. He was immediately willing," Vermeersch told VRT.
The choice of Kompany has to do with his age: if no other vice-Speaker is present, the honour goes to the oldest member of parliament who is present. As Speaker of the House, this briefly made Pierre Kompany the so-called "first citizen of the country" on Thursday evening.
Kompany will turn 78 in September. He grew up in Congo when it was still under Belgian colonisation, and came to Belgium in 1975 as a political refugee. In 2018, he became mayor of the Brussels municipality of Ganshoren, which made him the first black mayor in Belgium.
