A local councillor in Molenbeek, a municipality in the Brussels region, is accused of not being able to speak French or Dutch, the official languages of the region.
On October 20, Belgian Liberal Party (MR) President Georges-Louis Bouchez shared a clip on X showing how Mohammed Kalandar appeared unable to properly read a text in French.
Kalandar, a member of the Socialist Party (PS) was speaking out against accusations of a conflict of interest he reportedly had regarding a non-profit organisation of which he is a member.
He said in very broken French he has not been an active member of the organisation since the beginning of his term of office, although those articles of association have not yet been updated. He had voted on a subsidy for the organisation .
After reading the text, attention shifted from the possible conflict of interest to his command of the language of Voltaire. Despite reading his lines directly from a document, the local politician struggled to be comprehensible.
Bouchez said in his X post: “😳 Here’s where the Left’s communalism has led us in Bruxelles. A Councillor who forgot he was the treasurer of the non profit organisation to which he granted a subsidy … 🤯 And on top of that, he can barely read. ❌ Is this normal? No, this must stop!”
😳 Voilà où nous a conduit le communautarisme de la gauche à #Bruxelles. Un Echevin qui a oublié qu’il était le trésorier de l’ASBL à qui il a donné un subside …
🤯 Et en plus, il sait à peine lire.
❌ Est ce normal ? Non, cela doit cesser !#PresidenceMR #fierdetreliberal… pic.twitter.com/wcaX6o1JRD— Georges-L BOUCHEZ (@GLBouchez) October 20, 2025
Local MR councillor Marcela Gori joined the fray. “We don’t understand a word he says,” she said.
“He probably doesn’t understand the text that was written for him himself. We don’t run a municipality using Google Translate.”
Gori is pushing for a language exam for elected politicians in her municipality.
Those who fail that should be required to take intensive language lessons, she told daily La Dernière Heure.
It is not the first time Kalandar has been criticised for his elocution.
In February this year, a clip emerged on social media where he likewise was struggling to be intelligible.
Some social media users found old posts where he appeared to be cheering the murder of a cartoonist of the prophet. Kalandar denied this and said he would file a complaint against X.
Kalandar denied not being able to speak French in a text message to La Dernière Heure on October 21.
“This person [Bouchez] allows himself to say that I don’t seem to understand the text I am reading. She [Gori] incriminates me on the basis not of a fact but of an impression.
“I have a perfect command of the nuances of the French language. I admit that I have some speech problems that I try to solve but that have nothing to do with mastering the language and that also affect me in the other languages I speak,” he stated.
“For your information, I speak and understand French, Turkish, Arabic, English … Language is therefore absolutely not a barrier in my role as an alderman [councillor]. As far as the idea of a language test for elected officials is concerned, it is in my opinion unacceptable.”
He added that Gori’s proposal was “incompetence or demagoguery”, questioning the legal value of such an obligation if it were to be approved.
In reaction to the controversy, Michel Henrion, a left-wing journalist, posted a campaign video by Rana Arbab, an MR candidate for the 2024 regional elections with Pakistani roots.
In that clip, Arbab’s speech was dubbed into French and he speaks Urdu on social media.
David Leisterh, leader of the MR Party in Brussels, admitted at the time that Arbab’s French and Dutch were poor but “he added: “At least he is making an effort to integrate. He is Belgian and has a job.”
The Muslim Brotherhood has achieved so much influence in Brussels that local politicians now need its support to win elections, according to a French academic who researches the organisation. @FBBlackler https://t.co/LNoE64XzGu
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 23, 2024
In June, the national leadership of the Socialist Party had said Kalandar should resign because of irregularities in the voting process within the party.
Because he already is elected by the public in the municipal elections, though, there is little they can do.
The local commission of the PS said the grounds of the complaint were not sufficient to invalidate the vote.
The local PS branch has been under the supervision of the Brussels federation since May.
Observers say things are difficult to get a grip on nationally because PS mayor Catherine Moureaux, who has been involved in a series of incidents, is on sick leave since early 2025 due to “burn out”.
A controversial candidate for the job of councilman in the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek has been forced to step down after journalists dug up his criminal record. https://t.co/v8wlbg8YVP
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 28, 2024
