Louis Gustaaf Waltniel was a 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...

 liberal politician and industrialist. He held a master degree in economic sciences.

He was member of the city council, an alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 and finally burgomaster

Burgomaster

Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...

 of Ninove

Ninove

Ninove is a city and municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. It is situated on the river Dender...

 (1995–2001). Waltniel also served as a member of parliament (Chamber of Representatives: 1965-1968, 1971–1974, Belgian Senate

Belgian Senate

The Belgian Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament.-History and future:...

 1974-1992), state secretary for the civil service (1981–1985), state secretary for finance (1985), Deputy-president of the Flemish government

Flemish government

The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. It consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament...

 and 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...

 minister of finance and the budget (1985–1988) and Flemish minister of housing, spatial planning and monuments (1988–1992). He was president of the Liberaal Vlaams Verbond

Liberaal Vlaams Verbond

The Liberaal Vlaams Verbond was founded in 1913. From its origin it wanted to promote the Flemish cause and drew attention to social matters, within the Belgian Liberal Party...

 from 1974 until 1982. In 1995 he was evicted from the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) because during the 1994 communal elections he headed a renegade liberal party list (BANIER) against the official local liberal party and then joined a coalition government with socialists and Christian-democrats in which he served as burgomaster.

Source

• Louis Waltniel (Liberal archive]
• M. Lion, Achteraf beschouwd. De Ninoofse politieke memoires van L. G. Waltniel, Meerbeke, ABC-druk, s.d., 184 p.
• P. Van Molle, Het Belgisch parlement 1894-1969, Gent, Erasmus, 1969, p. 379.