Caroline Gennez

Caroline Gennez

Caroline Gennez (born August 21, 1975 in Sint-Truiden ) is a Belgian politician of the Socialist Partij Anders (sp.a). She is a member of the Flemish Parliament and was the incumbent party leader of the sp.a. At the local level, she is a member of the Mechelen municipal council .

Life

In her younger years, Caroline Gennez was seen as a promising tennis talent, but stopped training at the age of 14. After graduating from high school in Latin-Greek, she studied political and social sciences at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL).

Her entry into politics came after she completed an internship in a refugee and later women's shelter. She joined the Young Socialists ( JongSocialisten - JS) in 1998 and in 2001, under her chairmanship, transformed the association into Animo . From 1999 to 2003 Gennez was employed in the cabinet of the then Minister for Social Integration and Social Economy, Johan Vande Lanotte (sp.a).

Caroline Gennez was co-opted into the Senate in 2003, but left the Senate a year later after she was elected to the Flemish Parliament. She was also elected vice-president of sp.a. in 2003. When in 2005 the then party president Steve Stevaert gave up his office to take over the provincial governor in Limburg , Gennez replaced him for a few months and ad interim at the head of the sp.a. In October 2005 she handed over the chairmanship to Johan Vande Lanotte.

After the internal party elections in 2007, and after a severe election defeat for the Flemish Social Democrats, Gennez finally replaced Vande Lanotte at the top of the party. In 2009, when some politicians of the VlaamsProgressieven (Vl.Pro) party (later incorporated as Sociaal-Liberale Partij (SLP) in Groen! ) Wanted to switch to sp.a with Bert Anciaux , Gennez suggested that the party be renamed “socialisten en progressieven different ” and received heavy criticism, among others from former ministers Freddy Willockx and Louis Tobback . That same year, Gennez hit the headlines after an email was published meeting a confidante who was not the sp.a. on how the ministers of the Flemish government should be named. In particular, it was discussed how Frank Vandenbroucke , himself a former president of the SP, could be circumvented. Gennez apologized for the incident and retained the party's confidence. Gennez was not available for a second term as party chairman in 2011 and handed over the leadership of the sp.a to Bruno Tobback (sp.a).

At the local level, Caroline Gennez moved from her hometown of Sint-Truiden to Mechelen in 2003 and therefore had to give up her mandates in Sint-Truiden. She has been represented on the Mechelen municipal council since 2006 and is also the first lay judge there.

Caroline Gennez is a bearer of the Leopold Order .

Overview of political offices

• 2001 - 2003: Member of the local council in Sint-Truiden
• 2003: Judge in Sint-Truiden
• 2003 - 2004: Senator (co-opted)
• 2004 - 2007: Member of the Flemish Parliament
• 2006 - today : Mechelen municipal council member
• 2006 - 2012: Schöffin in Mechelen
• 2009 - today : Member of the Flemish Parliament

Web links

• Official website of Caroline Gennez

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lalibre.be: Caroline Gennez: "Le sport, je suis née dedans" (August 8, 2008) (French)
2. ↑ Lalibre.be: Caroline Gennez présidera le SP.A (October 22, 2007) (French)
3. ↑ DeMorgen.be: Ook Louis Tobback pikt naamsverandering sp.a niet (January 15, 2009) (ndl.); Lalibre.be: Le sp.a ne veut pas changer de nom (January 17, 2009) (French)
4. ↑ The content of the e-mail is on the website ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. des Nieuwsblads visible (ndl.) 
5. ↑ Nieuwsblad.be: Partijbestuur SP.A blijft eighth Gennez staan (12 October 2009) (NDL.); Lalibre.be: Le sp.a maintient sa confiance dans Caroline Gennez (October 12, 2009) (French)