Belgian Party Expels Former MP Ahmed El Khannouss Over Controversial Facebook Post

This exclusion follows a recent statement by Ahmed El Khannouss, who reacted to the resignation of Véronique Lefrancq. The politician had written on his Facebook page that the party had "turned its back on its values" and criticized its "populist" stance on the issue of ritual slaughter, reports Belga.

These writings naturally provoked the reaction of Maxime Prévot, who declared: "these are unfounded and outrageous public expressions that are the opposite of the values that are ours and that we have renewed in our manifesto." And to add: "[These remarks] that he publicly published last week lead me to note that he is clearly no longer in phase with our movement."

On Monday, Prévot announced in the parliamentary assembly that Ahmed El Khannouss was no longer part of the political formation. A decision confirmed by the party’s spokesperson, who specified that it will be notified to the interested party. Recall that the Brussels resident had already received a final warning in January from the party leadership, after his controversial remarks about the withdrawal of the residence permit of the Moroccan-born imam Mohamed Toujgani.