Herent (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – CD&V has leadership elections from May 1–15, 2025. Sammy Mahdi seeks re-election. Maarten Forceville, alderman from Herent, challenges him. The youth wing race features Chelsea Nshuti and Bram Van Hecke.
The CD&V party is having elections. The current leader wants to stay in charge. Maarten Forceville is running against him. Forceville is an alderman in Herent, a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium. He works on communication, childcare, and the local economy. He wants to bring his ideas to the national level.
According to the officials, the party has elections every 3 years. This is to make sure the party is run democratically. Some people at the party want a new leader. They think the party needs a fresh start. Forceville wants to change the party. He wants to make it more practical.
Who will lead CD&V?
The CD&V party is holding elections for its leader, but there are also elections for the leader of the youth wing, Jong CD&V. 2 young people are participating. Chelsea Nshuti is a councillor in Lummen who works for a former minister. Bram Van Hecke is from West Flanders. Both candidates want to lead the youth wing.
Bram Van Hecke is running for the leadership of Jong CD&V. He has a lot of experience. He works for a Flemish minister. This gives him experience with government. He was also the leader of Groene Kring.
This is a group for young people in agriculture. He understands the needs of farmers. He mentioned that farmers are important voters for the CD&V party. Van Hecke mentioned that his experience in government and his work with young farmers could be valuable in leading the party’s youth wing.
“The high number of candidates for our internal party structures proves that our party is brimming with ideas and commitment,”
Said the current chairman, Sammy Mahdi.
According to the officials, no one is participating against the current leaders in some parts of the party. Those leaders will stay in their jobs. But the party wants people to talk about the other jobs. They want to hear new ideas.
The party wants to be open and democratic. All members can vote from May 1st to May 15th, 2025. If no one gets more than half the votes, there will be another round of voting until May 30th, 2025.
