Cieltje Van Achter demands full transparency about an imam’s appearance in Brussels’ Parliament

Cieltje Van Achter wants more information from Secretary of State Ben Hamou (PS party) about his involvement in the event in the Brussels Parliament in which the imam Muhammad Ansar Butt read out Koran verses in the Chamber of Representatives. Cieltje Van Achter: “I strongly condemn this religious interference in our parliament. Therefore, we want to know everything about how this event could have taken place and apply the appropriate sanctions. What occurred on January 13 is more than a bridge too far.”

Cieltje Van Achter calls for full clarification regarding this event. “I have requested all the relevant information through the procedure for public access to administrative documents and the parliamentary right of scrutiny. In that, I would like to see the complete list of those present at the event, everyone who was aware of it and what role Secretary of State Ben Hamou played. We also wish to be able to question the Secretary of State during Friday’s plenary session.”

Ensuring the separation of church and state

“It is an absolute requirement of the N-VA to ensure the separation of church and state in our parliament. We will continue to raise this issue by all means possible so that such events never take place again in our parliament,” Cieltje Van Achter says. “Socialists once fought for the separation of church and state. This has been different in recent years: headscarves at the STIB-MIVB, slaughter without stunning and now an imam preaching in parliament. That goes more than a bridge too far.”