Anne-Marie Lizin

Anne-Marie Lizin (2005)

Anne-Marie Lizin-Vanderspeeten (born January 5, 1949 in Huy , Liège Province , Wallonia , Belgium ; † October 17, 2015 there ) was a Belgian politician of the Parti Socialiste (PS) , long-time mayor of Huy, member of both chambers of the federal government Parliament and President of the Senate .

Belgium

Degree, mayor and MEP

After attending school, she studied economics at the University of Liège and graduated with a degree .

She began to be politically involved in local politics at an early age and was initially a member of the local council and alderman (Schepen) of Ben-Ahin between 1970 and 1976 . After the incorporation of Ben-Ahins into Huy, she became a member of the Huy Municipal Council in 1977 and has been a member since then. She was also the city councilor of Huy from 1980 to 1982, and finally from 1983 to 2009 mayor of Huy.

Between 1973 and 1979 she was an advisor to the governments of Prime Ministers Edmond Leburton , Leo Tindemans and Paul Vanden Boeynants , initially on matters relating to the European Commission and then from 1977 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1979 she became a member of the 1st European Parliament for the PS and was a member of this during the 2nd legislative period until 1988. During this time she was also involved in the European Nuclear Disarmament , a Europe-wide campaign of the peace movement .

State Secretary, Member of Parliament and President of the Senate

In May 1988 she gave up her mandate in the European Parliament after she was appointed State Secretary for Europe by Prime Minister Wilfried Martens in 1992 to the Minister for Foreign Trade in his 8th cabinet . She held this position in the 9th Martens cabinet until March 7, 1992.

In addition, she was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1991 and was also a member of the Walloon Regional Council and the Council of the French Community during the electoral period that lasted until 1995. In addition, in 1992 she not only became chairman of the board of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in Human Rights Issues , but also vice-chairman of the Socialist International . She was also the chairwoman of the Women's Socialist International between 1992 and 1996.

After leaving the Chamber of Deputies, she was a co-opted member of the Belgian Senate from 1995 to 1999 . At the same time she became a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In addition, from 1996 to 2002 she was chairwoman of the Council of French-speaking Women (Conseil des Femmes Francophones) . Since 1997 she has also been a member of the Council for Equality between Men and Women and, since 1998, an independent expert at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva . As such, she was, for example, head of a delegation during the 2008 Caucasus War .

Anne-Marie Lizin was elected Senator by the French Electoral College on June 13, 1999 and has been a member of the Senate ever since. Between July 20, 2004 and July 12, 2007 she was the first woman President of the Senate.

She has been honored several times for her services and received the rank of Commander of the Order of Leopold on May 11, 2003 . In addition, she was since September 26, 2005 Knight of the Legion of Honor . Lizin was also a member of the Masonic Lodge Athena zu Huy within the Women's Grand Lodge of Belgium.

Scandals and exclusion from the Parti Socialiste

When accusations of credit card fraud were brought against her in January 2009 , she was expelled from the Parti Socialiste on January 27, 2009 . She has been an independent senator since then. In March 2009 she had to resign as mayor of Huy because of another scandal. There were allegations that she was practicing organized clientelism in her community, like other politicians in the Walloon region in the recent past. In August 2009 she was again in the focus of the press, but also again of the police, after she deliberately rammed the car of her successor as mayor and former party friend Micheline Toussaint-Richardeau .

In the Belgian parliamentary elections on June 13, 2010 , she entered with her own list MS + , but could not win a seat in the Chamber of Deputies.

Web links

Commons : Anne-Marie Lizin  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Belgian Ministries (rulers.org)
• Entry on Anne-Marie Lizin in the Members' database of the European Parliament

Individual evidence

1. ^ Anne-Marie Lizin overleden: Politica tegen tweehonderd per uur, maar soms uit de bocht . De Standaard , October 17, 2015.
2. ^ Steven Samyn: Rijk van Anne-Marie Lizin is bijna uit . De Standaard , January 16, 2009.
3. ↑ Anne-Marie Lizin met rijdt opzet tegen auto nieuwe burgemeester Hoei . Belga article in Het Nieuwsblad , August 18, 2009.