Two Brussels municipalities ensnared in governance scandals
Two Brussels municipalities are at the centre of serious governance scandals this week. The cases raise fresh questions about accountability in local politics in Belgium's capital region.
Brussels Local Authorities minister Ahmed Laaouej wants to place Saint-Josse-ten-Node under compulsory administration by the Brussels Region, La Libre Belgique reported on Wednesday. The municipality faces a cumulative deficit of more than 30 million euros, with the 2024 shortfall alone reaching almost 14 million euros.
Saint-Josse-ten-Node has already received 21 million euros in emergency support, and its budgetary needs were estimated at 57 million euros by end of 2025. An inspectorate report points to systematic overestimation of revenue, soaring staffing costs and multiple legal violations.
The compulsory administration procedure allows the regional government, after two warnings by registered letter, to send commissioners to the municipality to gather information or fulfil obligations on its behalf. It is extremely rare, having been applied only once before, in Schaerbeek in 1976. Coalition partner MR is understood to back the proposal, and the Council of Ministers is expected to take a decision on Thursday.
Brussels Housing state secretary Karine Lalieux confirmed the procedure on BX1, saying: "We cannot accept a municipality simply doing whatever it pleases." She also referred a separate audit of Saint-Josse-ten-Node's social housing agency to the public prosecutor's office, triggering a judicial investigation.
Housing scandal rocks Anderlecht
In Anderlecht, meanwhile, opposition councillors are calling for the temporary suspension of Lotfi Mostefa, who serves both as chairman of social housing association Foyer Anderlechtois - Anderlechtse Haard and as the municipality's councillor for Housing, pending a judicial investigation by the Central Anti-Corruption Service.
The programme Pano, produced by the Flemish public network VRT, revealed that Mostefa had allegedly influenced the allocation of certain social housing units. The report mentions widespread favouritism, cronyism and preferential treatment during Mostefa's tenure as chairman of the association.
Several parties in the Brussels Parliament have called for a committee of inquiry, to be considered on 1 June. Councillors of MR and Les Engagés have called for Mostefa to step aside so that "the calm necessary for the proper administration of the municipality can be restored."
The affairs come as Belgium has been sliding in Transparency International's corruption index. In the report, one expert noted that public trust in government integrity was already eroding before these latest scandals came to light.
© BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
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