Controversy over 2.35 million euros worth of furniture: the bureau of the Walloon Parliament will lodge a civil action complaint

16 comments

  1. **Following the extent of the controversy over the excessive expenditure on furniture to fit out the Parliamentarians’ House in Namur, the office of the Walloon Parliament has decided to become a civil party in the case.**

    For weeks now, the luxurious furniture that will be installed in the new wing of the Walloon Parliament in Namur has been the subject of much ink. In mid-April, a worker on the site revealed to RTL the type of furniture that would be installed in the parliamentary building, thus giving an idea of the expenses incurred. The sums were validated by the former Bureau of the Walloon Parliament (which resigned following the affair of the clerk Frédéric Janssens) and have caused controversy within the Parliament itself, since a total of 2.35 million euros were spent to furnish the building.

    A few days ago, the public contract for this same furniture raised some questions. The specifications of the public contract were so precise that only one of the companies that submitted a bid was able to meet them. This company had already supplied the Parliament with furniture in the past and finally won the contract.

    Following these controversies, the Parliament’s Bureau, meeting on Monday, decided to put the files in the hands of Justice, the one concerning the expenses for the Parliamentarians’ House and the one on the potentially irregular tender. “As soon as the file is transferred to the investigating judge, the Bureau will also act as a civil party,” the Bureau said.

  2. How strange that these things aren’t an issue until word gets out to voters. And then, suddenly there’s all sorts of huffing and chest thumping going around the political circles

  4. Surely, the commoners cannot expect members of parliament to endure equal discomfort if they were to choose Ikea furniture?

  5. Nothing says “I’m so much better than these stupid peasants that vote voor me” better than a nice Chesterfield lounge chair.

  9. This story is “low hanging fruit” for the media. Easy to jot down, easy to get attention with, easy to attract viewers.

    Am not dismissing the need for it .. but …

    I’d rather have the media focus on more controversial stuff – doing its really important job – doing real investigative journalism on people and/or policies that have the potential to affect so many of us .. positively and negatively.

  10. Hahaha die weten goe genoeg waar ze mee bezig zijn. Lees hier : https://www.tijd.be/politiek-economie/belgie/wallonie/audit-bevestigt-forse-budgetoverschrijdingen-waals-parlement/10426107.html

    Het budget voor de nieuwe gebouwen was al op 20,68 miljoen geschat bij de start.
    Terwijl de schatting 10 miljoen was.
    Het eindfactuur: 46 miljoen
    Het project werd in 2019 toegewezen voor 982.187 euro.

    Effe maal 46 qua toegewezen bedrag, maar hun burgers die in nood zaten tijden de overstromingen? Nada.

  11. on average a person earns 1.7 million over the course of their 40 year career. Think about that every time you see an article about these kinds of things.

    They’re throwing entire careers away and we pay so much money for them to just do all this kind of BS.

  13. Time to distract the public by pointing a blaming finger to the unemployed and count the number of rooms in social housing.

Leave a Reply