Auderghem's Ecolo-Groen List has decided to sit in opposition during the next term of office. According to the Greens, negotiations opened on 12 November with Mayor Sophie De Vos' List (DéFI) failed to yield the desired result.
The talks did not not enable the Greens to envisage "carrying out an ambitious programme to revitalise the municipality and adapt it to climate change," they explained.
The environmentalists' plans had included greening public spaces and school playgrounds, permeabilising the soil, creating numerous islands of coolness, redeveloping the municipality to make it more user-friendly and resilient, developing safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians, and installing photovoltaic panels on municipal buildings.
With just over 20% of the vote, Ecolo-Groen had openly announced its ambition to play a more influential role within the municipal government if it were to participate in the majority.
"However, the negotiations revealed that the Mayor's List was not interested in building a genuine, innovative and ambitious joint project for the municipality, preferring simply to rally behind its existing programme and accepting very few challenges," according to the environmentalists.
This orientation was also reflected in the distribution of the mandates proposed to Ecolo-Groen, i.e. one French-speaking and one Dutch-speaking alderman, the Greens explained.
At municipal elections on 13 October, the Mayor's List retained its absolute majority. With 17 seats (-2) out of 33, it continues to dominate the local political scene, ahead of the MR-Les Engagés group (8), Ecolo-Groen (6), and the PS (2).
