Bart Somers

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Bart Somers

Bartolomeus "Bart" Jozef Lodewijk Rosalia Somers (born May 12, 1964 in Mechelen , Belgium ) is a Belgian politician of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democrats party (German: Flemish Liberals and Democrats ).

biography

Bart Somers is the son of former Belgian MP and Senator Joos Somers, who was a member of the Volksunie . After attending the Sint-Romboutscollege in his native Mechelen, Somers studied law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven .

He began his political career in his father's party, the Volksunie , but later joined the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democrats (VLD). In 1994 he was elected to the Mechelen municipal council, of which he is still a member. Initially exclusively a local politician , he was a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies (De Belgische Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigers) for one term from 1999 to 2003 . Since 2001 he has been the mayor (Burgemeester) of Mechelen.

On June 11, 2003 he succeeded Renaat Landuyt as Prime Minister of Flanders . He held this office until he was replaced by Yves Leterme on July 20, 2004.

Subsequently, he was a member of the Flemish Parliament (Vlaams Parlement) until 2007 . He also became chairman of the VLD in 2004, succeeding Karel De Gucht , who was appointed foreign minister. During his tenure, Jean-Marie Dedecker was expelled from the party in January 2007 .

In the election of June 10, 2007, he was elected as a representative of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democrats (Open VLD) in the Antwerp constituency as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies for the 52nd legislative period until 2011 . He is also chairman of the Open VLD parliamentary group there .

In 2009, Guy Verhofstadt followed him ad interim as Chairman of the Open VLD, who was then replaced by Alexander De Croo on December 12, 2009 .

As Mayor of Mechelen, Somers is known far beyond Mechelen for its integration concept. The city is internationally regarded as a model for the successful integration of immigrants and refugees . His approach is based on the one hand on enforcing the rule of law and on the other hand on a focus on integration . By investing in police and a massive expansion of video surveillance , he took action against dealers, fences and petty criminals in order to increase cleanliness and public safety. Through social mixing and strict anti-discrimination, he campaigned for equality and integration of all population groups. Compared to Zeit , he put it this way: “I need an open society , but I can only get one if I ensure compliance with the law.” Somers achieved a better mix of schools by convincing parents to send their children to schools which were formerly known as "ghetto schools" and in return promised them better teaching. He was awarded the World Mayor 2016 prize for his work as mayor .

Works

  • Bart Somers, Gerd Busse (translation): Living together. My recipes against crime and terror (original title: Samen leven. Een hoopvolle strategie tegen IS ). CH Beck, Munich 2018. ISBN 978-3-406-72040-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Adrian Breda: Zero tolerance meets multiculturalism. In: Deutsche Welle. September 25, 2017, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Torsten Meise: Zero tolerance and multiculturalism - is that possible? In: time online. December 25, 2016, accessed October 6, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Somers, beard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Somers, Bartolomeus Jozef Lodewijk Rosalia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechelen , Belgium