“It is a difficult and painful moment for my group and for my party.” Gilles Vanden Burre, Ecolo’s parliamentary party leader, acknowledged this this morning on Radio 1. According to him, however, the State Secretary could have stayed on in the government. “She didn’t lie intentionally,” added Vanden Burre.
Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Sarah Schlitz announced her resignation on Wednesday morning. The Ecolo politician has been in trouble in recent days after it emerged that she had used her personal logo with subsidized organizations. According to opposition party N-VA, she also lied about that. In a statement to her cabinet, Schlitz acknowledged she had “committed a mistake” and apologized for it. When asked whether she actually lied, the Ecolo politician did not respond.
“She did not lie intentionally,” said Gilles Vanden Burre on Thursday. But looking back, he thinks she could have done things differently. “She could have said: I made a mistake, I apologize and will now continue my policy. Looking at it now, we might have done better.” “For example, some ministers in the Swedish coalition did not tell the truth in parliament and they stayed on. I think the political world is harder on women,” he said.
Finally, the parliamentary party leader briefly addressed the much-discussed sentence that Schlitz uttered at the end of her press conference. “I hope that with my resignation I raise the bar for ethics in politics,” she said on Wednesday. “Including the sexist and sexual violence perpetrated by political officials.”
“It was not a specific case that she wanted to name,” said Vanden Burre. “But the fight against sexist discrimination is her job. She wants to give the social debate more weight.”
LOOK. Schlitz resigns but does not answer questions
A chaotic course, melting support and a sleepless night: how State Secretary Schlitz finally had to bury the hatchet (+)
OUR OPINION. “Is the departure of Secretary of State Schlitz courage or sexism, dear Greens?” (+)
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.