Brussels Parliament President Socialist Rachid Madrane, an almost unknown figure on the political scene, earns more than Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, it has been revealed.
Madrane earned €243,275 gross in 2022, €17,000 more than both the Prime Minister and the President of the Federal Parliament, who are legally supposed to be the top earners in Belgium. The Socialist also chairs Belgium’s inter-parliamentary committee on wages.
Belgium has been hit with a series of revelations about parliamentarians earning more than expected. Some have been accused of bending and even breaking the law.
The fact that Rachid Madrane is the highest paid political representative in the country has caused a stir. He was elected with just over 10,000 votes in 2019. Few people outside Brussels have heard of him. He serves as President of the Brussels-Capital Parliament, one of Belgium’s six elected assemblies.
Communist parliamentarian Jan Busselen said the salary was “unacceptable, given one in two inhabitants of Brussels have difficulties making ends meet”.
Some politicians in Belgium have scaled back their wages in solidarity with declining incomes among their voters.
The Brussels-Capital Parliament however never reached an agreement on austerity for itself. Automatic indexation pushed salaries higher and given high inflation, they look set to go higher still.
Contacted by Belgian media, Rachid Madrane pointed out that the figures were gross amounts. “We give a part to the party and there are also taxes”.
He continued: “In Brussels, we have specificities and a linguistic balance to respect. I am President of two assemblies, the Brussels regional parliament and the joint community commission. Members of Parliament sit in three assemblies: the Brussels Parliament, but also in the French Community Commission … and in the Joint Assembly of the Joint Community Commission.”
If the salaries of the MPs are reduced, “it is mainly the French-speaking [parliamentarians] who will be affected”, the Socialist said when asked why the Brussels parliament has not agreed to make savings as federal parliamentarians had done. The salaries of ministers have been reduced by 8 per cent.
He claimed to be willing to take a pay-cut. “We can review everything downwards but then we must also question the social status of MPs who are not entitled to unemployment if they are not re-elected. We need a status that guarantees the independence of MPs from lobbies or donors as in the United States,” he concluded.
