Opposition sharply for Vandenbroucke after new images of alleged tampering by top official: “When will he intervene?” | Domestic

Since the summer of 2022, the Belgian company Medista has been claiming that the allocation of a multi-million dollar contract for the distribution of corona vaccines has been tampered with. A top official and a director of the French multinational Movianto are said to have been in cahoots. Both the government and Movianto deny this and the Council of State also ruled in 2022 that there was insufficient evidence.

But in December, images emerged in which both the civil servant and the director appear to admit that they helped each other. Minister of Health Vandenbroucke then ordered an audit and the Brussels public prosecutor’s office is also conducting an investigation. However, today it appears that there are still images in which new, serious indications of tampering emerge.

A director of Movianto tells a private detective that he secretly telephoned the top official and that she also gave him price information about Medista during an informal conversation. Both of these are not permitted in the context of a tender procedure. Minister Vandenbroucke does not want to respond substantively to the new images. “We announced in December that there will be an internal audit,” he says briefly. “This investigation is ongoing and we are turning this fragment over to the auditors.”

The opposition finds it incomprehensible that the minister remains so silent for the time being. “How many more alarm signals is he actually going to ignore until he intervenes?” asks MP Kathleen Depoorter (N-VA). “Does he consider avoiding blame for his administration more important than the public interest?”

PVDA also criticizes Vandenbroucke’s passive attitude. “It’s surprising how lightly he seems to take this,” says MP Sofie Merckx. “The statements in the new images are serious. We have the feeling that there is a blurring of standards at the FPS Public Health and the minister. They apparently think this is normal.”

Vlaams Belang goes one step further and believes that the minister should keep the honor to himself. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” says MP Dominiek Sneppe. “It is clear that all services under Vandenbroucke must be vetted and that there is a need for full transparency. The minister is politically responsible for this affair and should resign. He must disappear from the political scene.”

At N-VA they requested an extra session of the Public Health Committee, but that was blocked by the government. PVDA and N-VA hope that the minister will provide more clarity on Thursday. “He cannot continue to hide behind the ongoing audit.”