Guess who’s back: Piet De Groote (57), who resigned as mayor of Knokke-Heist in October, draws YES! with his own list. to the municipal elections. “The right approach for Knokke-Heist,” says De Groote, who has not yet released a program or names. But go for the sash. “Am I seeking revenge? No, I don’t look at the past anymore.”
Almost six months after Piet De Groote announced his resignation live Gert’s Table, the ex-mayor wants to implement policy again. His new political project YES! (Right Approach for Knokke-Heist, ed.) was presented on Thursday. “I’m happy to be here. And that is certainly not with feelings of revenge,” says De Groote. “We want to run a positive campaign for Knokke-Heist. There is already enough negativity in the world.”
Why De Groote, a heavyweight at Gemeentebelangen for many years and then successor to Leopold Lippens, suddenly comes up with his own list? For this we have to go back to the painful break with Gemeentebelangen in October 2023. An open letter, in which “malpractices and blurring of norms” in Knokke-Heist were denounced, was signed by all members of the majority. Except Piet De Groote.
READ ALSO. Ex-mayor Piet De Groote about “the last straw” that made him resign: “I no longer want to sit at the table with them”
“After several malpractices, I was then pushed to the exit,” said the ex-mayor. “It was an orchestrated attack. Why? Own sake. There are a few who feared I would be re-elected, I think.” (read more below the photo)
Piet De Groote wants ‘the right approach for Knokke-Heist’, in short ‘YES!’. — © jve
It was the boiling point after months of arguments and fuss within GBL. Ex-alderman Kris Demeyere had already resigned after a devastating audit. Ultimately, Jan Morbee (GBL) became mayor of Knokke-Heist, his successor.
Immediately De Groote’s biggest competitor in October. “Do I aspire to the sash? Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. You have to show ambition,” says De Groote. “I worked as alderman and mayor for Knokke-Heist for 17 years. I love my community. And now I want to give it my all again.”
“Historical turning point”
Would he ever be able to work with people who have done him in the past? “I no longer look at the past, only at the future of our municipality. I leave everything open,” says De Groote. “But the time is ripe for a breath of fresh air in our municipality. Leopold Lippens once founded a party (Municipal interests, ed.) because he believed that Knokke-Heist should be governed independently. I am still grateful to him for giving me a chance. This year we are once again facing a historic turning point.”
It is not yet known how who is on the list, or what will be included in the program. “We’ll come to that later. A new environmental analysis is underway for Knokke-Heist. So it would be premature to come up with a program now. But our list will be a mix of young violence and experience, with an equal number of men and women. This will not be my party, but our party.”
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