Zuhal Demir new Secretary of State

At the recommendation of N-VA Chairman Bart De Wever, Zuhal Demir from Genk has been unanimously confirmed by the party council as the successor to Secretary of State Elke Sleurs. Zuhal Demir will be responsible for Equal Opportunities, Poverty Reduction, Persons with a Disability, Urban Policy and Science Policy. “Helping people as much as possible to seize opportunities the opportunities in front of them, that’s my ambition,” says Zuhal Demir.

Zuhal Demir, 36, has been the N-VA’s labour market specialist in the Chamber since 2010. In that role she homed in on the themes of social dialogue, well-being at work and a good balance between rights and obligations. The miner’s daughter graduated from the KU Leuven in law and then gained a Master’s in Social Law at the VUB. From 2004 to 2013 she worked as a lawyer in labour legislation in Antwerp. In 2013 she became mayor of the district of Antwerp in a coalition with the N-VA, Open Vld and Groen. In 2016 she moved back to her home town of Genk to care for her sick mother together with her brothers and sisters.

Getting opportunities, seizing opportunities

Zuhal Demir hasTurkish-Kurdish roots. Her father came to Genk in the 1970s to work in the mines. Only recently, Zuhal Demir received a death threat because of her battle against the oppression of the Kurds. With equal opportunities and poverty reduction, Zuhal Demir is being entrusted with responsibilities that follow on seamlessly from the work she has already been doing for many years now. “It doesn’t matter where you come from: here, everyone can make it; here, everyone gets opportunities. And as the N-VA we believe in positive examples. We’ve got to make people stronger and give them confidence, instead of talking to them like they’re victims,” she concludes.