Bilzen (Brussels Morning Newspaper): Outgoing mayor Bruno Steegen’s Team Burgemester won 13 of 35 seats in local elections, needing a coalition partner. Trots, led by Johan Sauwens, secured 12 seats. Together, they could form a strong partnership with 25 seats. Voter turnout was 66.2%, and Steegen received 34.8% of the votes.
Team Burgemester, led by outgoing mayor Bruno Steegen, has won the local elections, securing 13 out of 35 seats. They do not have a majority, so they need to find a coalition partner. The Trots party, led by Johan Sauwens, came in second with 12 seats. Wouter Raskin’s N-VA Fusiebelang got 5 seats, while Annick Ponthier’s Vlaams Belang received 4. Johan Danen managed to get 1 seat for his party, Best-Groen, in the municipal council.
How will Bruno Steegen’s team Burgemester and Trots partner in Bilzen-Hoeselt’s new coalition?
The new merged municipality has a strong partnership between Team Burgemester and Trots, giving them 25 out of 35 seats. These two parties have worked together before in Bilzen, and Team Burgemester has experience from Hoeselt. Other possible partnerships could be Team Burgemester with N-VA Fusiebelang or Trots with N-VA Fusiebelang, reaching 18 seats. Outgoing mayor Bruno Steegen noted more votes this time but was concerned about the low voter turnout of 66.2 percent in Bilzen and Hoeselt.
It has been said that Bruno Steegen is happy with his election results, getting 34.8 percent of the votes and 4,286 preferential ballots. He is likely to become the first mayor of the new Bilzen-Hoeselt area. Steegen knows that the two towns will be tough because their taxes and fees are different, but he wants to make Bilzen-Hoeselt a nice place in Limburg.
