Elections 2024: De Wever secures Antwerp ahead of PVDA in 'polarised election'
Bart De Wever of N-VA was confirmed as mayor of Antwerp following the local elections on Sunday.
“Rome has won,” he said in his victory speech, referencing his earlier metaphor that framed the election as a choice between Rome (his party) and Moscow (the far-left PVDA). “Freedom has won, and prosperity has won. Antwerp is coloured gold and yellow!” De Wever’s party secured 37.4 per cent of the vote, solidifying his hold on Antwerp’s political landscape.
De Wever also called for reflection. "Social needs are high, public transport is inadequate and it has become very expensive for young families and single people to live here", he said.
"We must also pay attention to the voters who voted for the extreme right, and those who were misled into voting for the extreme left. It must be our ambition to fully involve every Antwerp resident in our city community. But those are worries for tomorrow, because tonight is a party!"
Record votes for PVDA
While De Wever celebrated, the far-left PVDA also made significant strides, finishing as the second-largest party in Antwerp with 20.2 per cent of the vote to record their best result ever in the city.
"The abolition of compulsory voting has clearly cost us votes," said Jos D'Haese, PVDA’s candidate and De Wever’s main challenger. “We had hoped for more. But still, we doubled our previous result in Antwerp. Thank you!”
Vooruit, which garnered 12.8 per cent of the vote, came in third and may be in a position to govern alongside N-VA. This potential coalition would give De Wever a clear majority in Antwerp's city council.
However, the results were a disappointment for other parties. Bogdan Vanden Berghe, leader of Groen, which received 10.4 per cent of the vote, voiced his concerns about the outcome, but also his pride in his party.
“The election result in Antwerp is not what we had hoped for,” he said. “We have campaigned very hard together in the past weeks and months in an honest and constructive way. And we can be damn proud of that!”
He also criticised the polarising nature of the campaign. “The artificially polarised campaign between Bart De Wever and Jos D'Haese has mainly yielded a lot for the incumbent mayor,” he said, adding that it had caused some voters to disengage from politics altogether. “As a result, we risk that the population will not recognise itself in the next majority.”
#FlandersNewsService | N-VA leader Bart De Wever at the local elections, 13 October 2024. © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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