Georges-Louis Bouchez has provoked accusations of nepotism by appointing his partner Lucie Demaret the president of Wallonia's childcare organisation the Office of Birth and Childhood (ONE).
Demaret belongs to Bouchez' liberal party Mouvement Reformateur (MR) and will chair the board of directors of the National Children's Office (ONE) as part of a carving-up of three chairperson positions divided between the liberal party and the centrists Les Engagés.
Les Engagés has appointed someone to lead University Hospital of Liège, and someone else to head the Spa-Francorchamps circuit while MR was given the choice over ONE.
Demaret was a councillor in Ham-sur-Heure during the previous mandate and was elected councillor in Hainaut last October. She lost the position to Aurore Goossens following an internal struggle.
Lucie Demaret. Credit: Belga
Opposition parties have reacted angrily to what they call "nepotism".
"I don't understand why they made such a decision," said Ecolo leader Gilles Vanden Burre.
"A sigh of relief for the Bouchez family," Socialist MP Martin Casier wrote with sarcasm on social media.
Bouchez has waved these concerns aside, arguing: "It's a bit silly to talk about politicisation for positions that are political."
"We're talking about appointing administrators who are political by nature," he said. "You have to appoint people who share your vision."
Of his wife, he says "She has been very involved in everything related to early childhood [...] In the 21st century, reducing a person to the person they live with is rather simplistic and very contrary to the left's ideas about women's emancipation."
'Brutal'
Walloon Minister-President has echoed this argument, stating: "We must stop judging women in particular on the basis of who they live with or the colour of their clothes. Let her get on with her work. I will wait to judge her on the basis of her achievements.’
Current ONE President and mayor of the Walloon municipality Silly Violaine Herbaux (MR) has reacted with disappointment to her "brutal" replacement.
"The announcement of my replacement, which I learnt about via the press, came as a shock," she stated in a press release. "I am not happy about it. I do not understand it. There has been no explanation."
Legal?
An early call for applications had stated that the prospective cadidates could not be provincial councillors (Demaret's position at the time) nor hold a position in a ministerial cabinet (Demaret is also an advisor to Interior Minister Bernard Quintin).
However, the call was amended to remove these requirements last December. Bouchez says this was an effort to align with an October 2023 ministerial decree stating that all state agencies must adhere to the same rules. Walloon Minister Valérie Lescrenier (Les Engagés) has confirmed this information.
The decision is not therefore illegal but does raise questions about MR's attempts to plant its own people in senior positions, something Bouchez has castigated PS for doing.
Demaret is also the sister of Géraldine Demaret, chair of the board of directors of the National Lottery and chief of staff to Federal Employment Minister David Clarinval (MR).
