Emir Kir, outgoing mayor of Brussels municipality Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, has announced he would not appeal the decision to invalidate the municipal election, so the vote will be rerun.
On November 20, a Brussels court had declared the local election in Saint-Josse on October 13, which Kir won, as invalid over suspicions of fraud.
He had eight days to appeal to the State Council but ultimately declined to do so, automatically triggering new elections. These should take place by January 10 at the latest, according to Kir.
“I put my appeal in the hands of the electorate,” he said on his official Facebook page on November 27.
“We don’t want our municipality to have to wait more than three months for validation by the Council of State.”
Kir said he and his colleagues “obviously regret the decision of the judicial college after such a clear-cut result” and predicted his team would win the upcoming elections as well.
“There are plenty of arguments against the decision … but the crushing victory on October 13 and the duration of the appeal process have led us to decide to return to the polls as quickly as possible,” Kir told news outlet Bruzz.
He insisted the decision not to appeal was not an admission of any mistakes.
“The Electoral College is a political body whose members have a political background. We have many reservations about their decision,” he said.
“In our view, the irregularities with proxy votes would not have impacted the seat distribution. Moreover, the Electoral College could have taken other measures, such as a recount.”
Several competing candidates had lodged complaints over the vote in October, citing what they said was a significant discrepancy between the number of actual voters in polling stations and the numbers electronically recorded.
After an investigation following the complaints, the court objected to the suspiciously high number of proxy votes, five times higher than in other municipalities.
Additionally, 350 proxy votes were deemed problematic for various reasons, 50 of which were extremely so since the mayor signed these proxies off on election day, which he was not allowed to do. Other proxy votes reportedly did not have the required signatures.
In one polling station, a significant difference between the number of actual voters and the number of votes registered electronically was recorded.
Kir’s party was also accused of trying to convince voters to back its candidate while they waited to cast their ballots for their personal choices. In addition, some members of the party were allegedly present in the polling booths.
Next to the administrative decision not to validate the results of the October election, there is also a judicial investigation into electoral fraud.
If Kir were to be found guilty of wrongdoing as part of this investigation, he would not be able to stand for major again. The legal process behind this probe could take a number of years.
The left-wing politician gained notoriety in April 2024 when he sent the police to shut down NatCon, a Conservative event featuring prominent figures and state leaders.
What was seen as his authoritarian, anti-free speech actions triggered negative reactions and condemnations around the globe and a Brussels court had to overturn his decision.
