Antwerp Politician Resigns After Racist Remarks Toward Moroccan-Belgian Colleague

In an email she is said to have addressed to the party leadership or to Alderman Beels, Nabilla Ait Daoud said she was deeply shocked by Meeuws’ remarks. The Vooruit alderman is said to be a repeat offender. He is said to have the habit of calling his fellow aldermen Beels and Bachar by the respective nicknames of "Our brown one" and "Our Moroccan" during closed-door meetings.

This email from Ait Daoud is said to be the reason for Meeuws’ resignation from his alderman and municipal council positions, and his decision to end his political career. But this is not the case, Meeuws assures. "I am very surprised by what I am hearing. My decision to resign has nothing to do with the way I expressed myself," he said.

The president of Vooruit in Antwerp, Sascha Luyckx, confirmed the existence of the email from Alderman Ait Daoud. "With Jinnih Beels and Karim Bachar, we met with Tom Meeuws last Thursday and severely reprimanded him. Meeuws denied the facts and left. If all this is true, then it is unacceptable," he stressed.

Meeuws firmly denies the accusations against him. An investigation is underway to determine if he did indeed make such racist remarks. These racist remarks by Meeuws recall those of the former president of Vooruit, Conner Rousseau, towards the Roma community.