Belgian Green Party Demands End to N-VA’s Campaign Against Constitutional Court Nominee

"We therefore ask for the withdrawal of this campaign, in order to allow the deputies who will be called upon to vote for this nomination to do so without external pressure, and thus to guarantee the respect and the proper functioning of our institutions," wrote Rajae Maouane, co-president of the green party on Twitter.

For her, it is nothing less than a public trial that the N-VA is making of the democratically elected deputy because of her candidacy for a judge’s position. "This party is actively working to gag a candidate because she has different opinions," she fumes.

After approval in the Council of Ministers of the royal decree on the appointment of deputy Yasmine Kherbache as a Dutch-speaking judge to the Constitutional Court, the Senate will vote next Friday on the candidacy of MP Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo) for a French-speaking judge’s position.

However, the ecologist deputy is the subject of a smear campaign that the N-VA has been organizing against her for a few days. Senator Karl Vanlouwe (N-VA) is relaying this campaign on social networks, which calls to "stop Khattabi". This party is fighting for an "activist who obstructs judicial decisions not to be elected" to the Constitutional Court. In 2013, the deputy had opposed the forced removal of a Tunisian national on a Tunisair flight, recalls the daily De Standaard. As a result, the expulsion had not been carried out.