Laurette Onkelinx
Encyclopedia
Laurette A.J. Onkelinx (born 2 October 1958 in Ougrée
) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party
. She is the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government
, i.e., the Van Rompuy I Government
, which took office on 30 December 2008.
origin, she graduated in law at the University of Liège
after which she worked as a lawyer for 10 years. At the age of 30 she was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.
In October 2007 Laurette Onkelinx stunned public opinion by comparing the Flemish
(60% of the Belgian population) with 'mérules
' (a type of fungus
) that threaten the country.
She is considered to be the most powerful woman in Belgian politics and viewed as a potential successor to the Parti socialiste
's chairperson Elio Di Rupo
. Her father, Gaston Onkelinx, originally a Dutch-speaking migrant from Flemish Limburg
to francophone Wallonia, has long been mayor of Seraing
(near Liège) and member of the House of Representatives (1974–1987). Her older brother, Alain Onkelinx, has been a member of the Regional Parliament of Wallonia since September 2005.
terrorist
Fehriye Erdal
was sentenced to four years imprisonment by a Bruges
court on 28 February 2006, it turned out that she had shaken off the Belgian
secret service
, which had the responsibility of following her since 23 February 2006 (Erdal had been under house arrest since 2000, and living in the same building as the DHKP-C secretariat). Both Laurette Onkelinx and Minister of the Interior Patrick Dewael
have come under fire for this incident; the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V) and Vlaams Belang
demanded the resignation of both of them on 6 March 2006.
In July 2006, Onkelinx came under heavy political fire again when one of Belgian's most notorious criminals, Murat Kaplan, did not return from a weekend-leave, which she signed off. In August 2006 she came again under heavy fire when 28 prisoners managed to escape from a prison in Dendermonde. In September 2006, it was reported that the criminal Victor Hoxha had returned to Belgium - he was deported earlier from Belgium in 2006, and told not to return for ten years. Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt
, of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), has now asked the minister to refrain from releasing any criminals prematurely in the coming three months, but she refuses this demand. This comes just before the government prepares its budget for the coming year, and the October municipal elections
.
CD&V and Vlaams Belang again had asked the resignation of the minister, but it is unknown how far the VLD will go in supporting the minister (and accordingly, the current federal government
). On 23 September, it was reported that another criminal did not return from day-leave. Tony Van Parys
, of the CD&V party, called it "incomprehensible that someone like Azzouzi [criminal in question] would get penitentiary leave." The cabinet's crisis was averted the next week, when a deal was struck between the VLD and PS, allowing criminals only to be released on parole, in the next months, after consent by their victim (or the victim's family).
On 6 October, two days before the Belgian municipal elections, Laurette Onkelinx was hit with a pie at an election event in Schaarbeek
. The perpetrator was Benito Franscesconi, a 78-year old man, who has a history of "civil disobiedence." Franscesconi has made himself a civil party to many court cases in which he had no direct interest.
First married to Abbès Guenned, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, she divorced him in 1997-1998, Morocco
asked for his extradition, accusing him of drug trafficking (Guenned was stopped on 31 July 1997 at the airport of Zaventem, while being in the possession of a diplomatic passport), a charge which has since been dropped. He was also arrested in Turkey
but released after strong influence from the Belgian government At that time, Onkelinx was presiding over the government of Belgium's French Community. Onkelinx remarried barrister Marc Uyttendaele. Witnesses to this marriage were both their former husband and wife. In 2003, Guenned became an adviser to Onkelinx' cabinet, charged with the preparation of the election of the Belgian advisory Muslim council
, and dealing with town management but, especially, with the communication between the cabinet and the Islamic associations.
In 2009, she criticized Pope Benedict XVI over his comments that condoms only worsen the AIDS crisis.
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Seraing
Seraing is a Walloon municipality of Belgium in Province of Liege. The municipality of Seraing includes the old communes of Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, and Ougrée. With Liège, Herstal, Saint-Nicolas, Ans, and Flémalle it forms the greater Liège agglomeration...
) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party
Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)
The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party...
. She is the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government
Belgian federal government
The Cabinet of Belgium is the executive branch of the Belgian federal government, consisting of ministers and secretaries of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. Formally, the ministers are appointed by the King...
, i.e., the Van Rompuy I Government
Van Rompuy I Government
The Van Rompuy I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier...
, which took office on 30 December 2008.
Biography
Born to Gaston Onkelinx and Germaine Ali Bakir, of KabyleKabyle people
The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...
origin, she graduated in law at the University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
after which she worked as a lawyer for 10 years. At the age of 30 she was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.
In October 2007 Laurette Onkelinx stunned public opinion by comparing the Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
(60% of the Belgian population) with 'mérules
Serpula lacrymans
Serpula lacrymans is one of the fungi that are responsible for dry rot. It is a basidiomycete in the order Boletales.-Taxonomy:The species was first described under the name Boletus lacrymans by Franz Xavier von Wulfen in 1781...
' (a type of fungus
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
) that threaten the country.
She is considered to be the most powerful woman in Belgian politics and viewed as a potential successor to the Parti socialiste
Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)
The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party...
's chairperson Elio Di Rupo
Elio Di Rupo
Elio Di Rupo is a Belgian social-democratic politician and the Party Leader of the Socialist Party .-Biography:...
. Her father, Gaston Onkelinx, originally a Dutch-speaking migrant from Flemish Limburg
Limburg (Belgium)
Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...
to francophone Wallonia, has long been mayor of Seraing
Seraing
Seraing is a Walloon municipality of Belgium in Province of Liege. The municipality of Seraing includes the old communes of Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, and Ougrée. With Liège, Herstal, Saint-Nicolas, Ans, and Flémalle it forms the greater Liège agglomeration...
(near Liège) and member of the House of Representatives (1974–1987). Her older brother, Alain Onkelinx, has been a member of the Regional Parliament of Wallonia since September 2005.
Controversy
When TurkishTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
Fehriye Erdal
Fehriye Erdal
Fehriye Erdal is a female political activist of Kurdish origin from Turkey. She was one of the three DHKP-C members allegedly involved in the assassination of a Turkish businessman, Özdemir Sabancı and two of his employees on January 9, 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2008 however, she was acquitted...
was sentenced to four years imprisonment by a Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
court on 28 February 2006, it turned out that she had shaken off the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
, which had the responsibility of following her since 23 February 2006 (Erdal had been under house arrest since 2000, and living in the same building as the DHKP-C secretariat). Both Laurette Onkelinx and Minister of the Interior Patrick Dewael
Patrick Dewael
Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, in Lier, Belgium is a liberal Belgian politician. He is a member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, or Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten . He is the nephew of the late liberal minister Herman Vanderpoorten and the cousin of Marleen Vanderpoorten, who also served as...
have come under fire for this incident; the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V) and Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
demanded the resignation of both of them on 6 March 2006.
In July 2006, Onkelinx came under heavy political fire again when one of Belgian's most notorious criminals, Murat Kaplan, did not return from a weekend-leave, which she signed off. In August 2006 she came again under heavy fire when 28 prisoners managed to escape from a prison in Dendermonde. In September 2006, it was reported that the criminal Victor Hoxha had returned to Belgium - he was deported earlier from Belgium in 2006, and told not to return for ten years. Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
, of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), has now asked the minister to refrain from releasing any criminals prematurely in the coming three months, but she refuses this demand. This comes just before the government prepares its budget for the coming year, and the October municipal elections
Belgian municipal elections, 2006
The Belgian provincial and municipal elections, 2006 took place on Sunday 8 October 2006. The electors have elected the municipal counsellors of 589 cities and towns as well as the ten provincial councils...
.
CD&V and Vlaams Belang again had asked the resignation of the minister, but it is unknown how far the VLD will go in supporting the minister (and accordingly, the current federal government
Belgian federal government
The Cabinet of Belgium is the executive branch of the Belgian federal government, consisting of ministers and secretaries of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. Formally, the ministers are appointed by the King...
). On 23 September, it was reported that another criminal did not return from day-leave. Tony Van Parys
Tony Van Parys
Tony J.M.M. Van Parys is a Belgian CD&V politician.Van Parys was first chosen to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 1985, on a CVP ticket...
, of the CD&V party, called it "incomprehensible that someone like Azzouzi [criminal in question] would get penitentiary leave." The cabinet's crisis was averted the next week, when a deal was struck between the VLD and PS, allowing criminals only to be released on parole, in the next months, after consent by their victim (or the victim's family).
On 6 October, two days before the Belgian municipal elections, Laurette Onkelinx was hit with a pie at an election event in Schaarbeek
Schaarbeek
Schaerbeek or Schaarbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. The first mention of the name was Scarenbecca, recorded in a document from the Bishop of Cambrai in 1120...
. The perpetrator was Benito Franscesconi, a 78-year old man, who has a history of "civil disobiedence." Franscesconi has made himself a civil party to many court cases in which he had no direct interest.
First married to Abbès Guenned, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, she divorced him in 1997-1998, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
asked for his extradition, accusing him of drug trafficking (Guenned was stopped on 31 July 1997 at the airport of Zaventem, while being in the possession of a diplomatic passport), a charge which has since been dropped. He was also arrested in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
but released after strong influence from the Belgian government At that time, Onkelinx was presiding over the government of Belgium's French Community. Onkelinx remarried barrister Marc Uyttendaele. Witnesses to this marriage were both their former husband and wife. In 2003, Guenned became an adviser to Onkelinx' cabinet, charged with the preparation of the election of the Belgian advisory Muslim council
Muslim Executive of Belgium
De Belgische Moslim Executief or L'Exécutif des musulmans de Belgique is the official Muslim interlocutor of the Belgian federal government for the implementation of the July 19, 1974 law recognizing Islam as one of the subsidized religious or secular communities in Belgium according to the law...
, and dealing with town management but, especially, with the communication between the cabinet and the Islamic associations.
In 2009, she criticized Pope Benedict XVI over his comments that condoms only worsen the AIDS crisis.
Political career
First elected to the Belgian House of Representatives in 1988, she has since held several ministerial posts:- Minister of Social Integration, Public Health and Environment (1992–1993)
- Minister-President and Minister of the Civil Service, Child's healthcare and Promotion of Health in the French CommunityFrench Community of BelgiumThe French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...
(1993–1995) - Minister-President and Minister of Education, Media, Youth, Child's healthcare and Promotion of Health in the French CommunityFrench Community of BelgiumThe French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...
(1995–1999) - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour (1999–2003)
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Transport (2003)
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice (July 2003 - December 2007)
- Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health (December 2007 - current)
External links
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