N-VA fears housing fraud inquiry committee has been stripped of its substance

According to N-VA, the inquiry committee tasked with investigating the Anderlechtse Haard scandal risks missing its purpose entirely. The party has sharply criticised the Brussels majority's decision to narrow the committee’s mandate and impose a strict deadline on its work. “This risks becoming a sham inquiry that carefully avoids addressing the elephant in the room,” said Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre.

Investigation into the core allegations removed

Vanden Borre notes that the majority has removed precisely those elements of the mandate that relate to the most serious allegations uncovered in the Pano investigation.

“The inquiry committee is no longer allowed to independently examine allegations of clientelism, political interference, electoral fraud, corruption, file manipulation and the misuse of public funds. Yet these were exactly the issues at the heart of the revelations,” he said.

N-VA is also questioning the imposed deadline. The committee must submit its final report by 21 July, with no possibility of an extension.

“An inquiry committee involves reviewing hundreds of files, thousands of pages of documents and holding dozens of hearings. The Samusocial inquiry committee worked for more than six months. This is simply not a serious approach,” Vanden Borre added.

“The PS is imposing its will”

According to N-VA, the developments once again demonstrate the PS’s enduring grip on Brussels politics. Vanden Borre accuses MR and Les Engagés of amending their own proposal under pressure from the Socialists.

Brussels parliamentary group leader Gilles Verstraeten went even further.

“The PS, despite being the party facing the allegations, is managing to impose its will through blackmail and threats of retaliation against the governing parties. The tone has been set for what comes next: whenever a witness is called or documents are requested that could prove inconvenient for the PS, all it will take is pressure on the majority. This is the kind of behaviour one would expect in a banana republic. Today was the moment to draw a line in the sand, but instead the majority chose cowardice.”

Full transparency

N-VA is calling for the inquiry committee to be given the time and resources necessary to establish the full truth. According to the party, residents of social housing, the more than 60,000 families currently on waiting lists and whistleblowers within the sector all deserve clear answers.

“Either you genuinely want to uncover the truth and give the committee the time it needs to do its job, or you stage a procedural exercise designed to sweep everything under the carpet once again. N-VA unequivocally chooses the truth,” Vanden Borre concluded.