No Islam Party gathering in Mons, says Mayor

The refusal by Mons Mayor Elio Di Rupo came in response to a motion submitted by Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of the “Mons en Mieux” group, to ban the party from gathering in the city.

“Once a mayor considers that public order is threatened he takes the decision to ban a demonstration,” Di Rupo told Sudpresse. He confirmed on Wednesday to Belga that any application for an Islam Party assembly would be refused.

The mayor said the party “makes statements that run counter to basic principles. It thwarts equality between men and women and does not respect the human rights convention or even the Belgian constitution. In the PS (Socialist Party) we want to ban such anti-democratic parties.”

De Rupo added: “That party places religion above the law. It wants to impose sharia, but the law must take precedence over faith. The PS has always asked for secularism to be enshrined in the Constitution. I certainly do not want Muslims to be stigmatized. I recall that many of them are not in agreement with these propositions.”

Jason Bennett
The Brussels Times