Belgian Parliament President Defends 200,000 Euro Salary Amid Scrutiny

Rachid Madrane received 243,275 euros gross as remuneration in 2022, according to HLN. The President of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is therefore the best-paid political figure in Belgium. On BL RTL, Madrane reacted to this information confirmed by the Transparency cell of the Brussels parliament. "Yes, but everything is included, including the tax-exempt part, which is 28%," he explains. "We get those 28%, but we pay them back to the party, we pay taxes... In the end, what’s left is obviously not that amount. We’re talking about gross amounts, that’s still important," he added.

Madrane is thus better paid than Alexander De Croo, who earns 240,000 euros gross per year. "There is probably the question of indexation of salaries. [...] It is normal for the legislative to be at least 1 euro higher than the head of the executive," he justifies. And he continued: "This is what we want in all assemblies. If we tend towards that, I am totally in favor of it." In a democracy, the legislative controls the executive, "It’s not the other way around," said the political leader.