Belgium: Muslim Executive disbanded

The Belgian Muslim community did not succeed to put together a new full Muslim Executive Friday. The non-profit organization behind the representative body is being disbanded and it's personnel fired, says Minister Of Justice Jo Vandeurzen.

The general gathering of the Muslim Executive had to choose new members. Ten of the 17 executive members had not survived a vote of confidence in October or had resigned on their own. The vote did not take place in the end. "The French speaking Moroccans didn't want to," declares vice-president Hacer Düzgün. "The Turkish community doesn't need this executive since we are well organized and come to a consensus quickly. It's the Moroccan community that can't organize itself well. The older generation is out for power and doesn't realize the importance of the Executive."

The Muslim Executive was in a scandal last year after a judicial investigation into fraud in the organization. The French-speaking vice-president Benjelloul Kissi was arrested in September on suspicion of forgery and abuse of trust. Since October the Executive has been functioning with barley half its members. In February Minister Vandeurzen stopped the subsidies and the Executive is now in debt of more than 200,000 euro.

Vandeurzen "regrets" the outcome and confirms once again the need for a representative body for the whole Muslim community, calling to bridge over the internal difference of opinion.

Source: HLN (Dutch)

See also: Belgium: Muslim Executive subsidies delayed, Belgium: Muslim Executive denies allegations, Belgium: Former Muslim leader held for embezzlement

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