Foreign Minister to face second Select Committee grilling on Monday

Although the issue of the visa was not on the agenda of Thursday’s session it hovered like a shadow during the exchanges at question time and in the corridors of the federal parliament. The opposition parties (Flemish nationalists, Francophone Christian democrats and Francophone federalists) tabled motions demanding that Ms Lahbib came to the chamber to explain herself. However, these were ruled to be out of order.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the various groups in the parliament met and agreed that Ms Lahbib would appear before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee next week. Politicians from both the opposition and the parties that make up the federal coalition found the explanation given by Ms Lahbib before the Select Committee on Wednesday unsatisfactory. New information has come to light in the press about visa affair and a number of questions remain unanswered. Moreover, some of what was said before the Select Committee on Wednesday seems to contradict what the Foreign Minister had said when she spoke about the issue for the first time during the plenary session on Thursday of last week.Hadja Lahbib also did not concede that any errors had been made, nor did she express any regret.

Meanwhile, the Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who himself had very little at all to do with the case, has conceded that "things should have been done differently". Mr De Croo’s assertion during Thursday’s plenary session of parliament that “The incident is closed” appears to be very far from the truth. Within the federal coalition the socialists and the greens feel that they can no longer trust Ms Lahbib.  The Flemish Christian democrats are somewhat more lenient. They say that they are waiting for "a clear signal" that would make it possible to turn the page.