A Belgian deputy has made a clear example of filibustering by staging a marathon intervention of 23 hours straight before the Finance Committee of the federal Parliament, to add almost about 45 hours of speech over several consecutive sessions.
His dialectic had a clear purpose: delay the approval of a law that would allow the tax administration to more quickly cross-check taxpayers’ banking and asset data.
The intervention, which began yesterday, Tuesday, concluded at 1:00 p.m. (local time) this Wednesday. Furthermore, the termination of the speech was not his own decision, but was caused by the president of the commission.
It is he took his turn to speak to the former Minister of Justice and current Flemish Liberal MP, Vincent Van Quickenborne, after warning him that he was falling into repetitions.
Since October 21, Van Quickenborne has monopolized five sessions of the commission, causing the frustration of his parliamentary colleagues and the attention of the Belgian media.
In his last long shift, accompanied by pizzas and waffles, he resorted to multiple delaying tactics: he reviewed the entire family tree of a party colleague and praised the officials in charge of writing the minutes.
The politician questions the Government’s project, especially the amendment on of my date in tax legislation, arguing that its application would mean the end of banking secrecy and would establish a presumption of guilt, by automatically analyzing data even without indications of fraud.
Their strategy sought to prevent the rule from coming into force on January 1.
Other controversies
Van Quickenborne, known for his extravagant episodes during his time as minister, had already been subject of controversy in the past.
He lived under protection after an alleged kidnapping attempt by the mafia and later resigned from office after the so-called “Pipigate“.
El incidente ocurrió durante la celebración de su 50 cumpleaños, en agosto de 2023, cuando varios de sus invitados orinaron sobre una furgoneta policial estacionada frente a su residencia.
Las cámaras de seguridad registraron además cómo el ministro, en compañía de un amigo, salió a la calle de madrugada, se acercó al vehículo, tocó la puerta, se rió y aparentemente gesticuló como si también miccionara.
Van Quickenborne afirmó entonces que las imágenes habían sido malinterpretadas. Aseguró que simplemente cerró la puerta del vehículo, que estaba abierta, y que los movimientos consistían en tocar una air guitar, un gesto habitual entre los aficionados (como él) al heavy metal. Un mes después, presentó su dimisión.
Resignation
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent van Quickenborne announced his resignation in October 2023 after discovering that Tunisia had requested in August 2022 the extradition of the author of last Monday’s attack in Brussels, which cost the lives of two Swedes, and that this request was not processed.
“It is an individual, monumental and unacceptable mistake,” Van Quickenborne declared at a press conference with the Brussels prosecutor general, Johan Delmulle.
The minister apologized for the “dramatic consequences” of the non-processing of the extradition request made by Tunisia on August 15, 2022 against Abdesalam Lassoued and transmitted on September 1, 2022 to the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office, but the competent magistrate did not process it.
“At 9 in the morning I was able to verify the following elements: on August 15, 2022 there was an extradition request from Tunisia for this man. This request was transmitted on September 1, as it should have been, by the legal expert to the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office. The competent magistrate did not respond to this extradition request and the file was not processed. This is an individual error. A monumental error. An unacceptable error. An mistake with dramatic consequences“said the resigning minister.