Parliament's Justice committee will not meet on i-Police this week despite pressure on Verlinden

The Justice committee of the federal Chamber will not meet this week on the i-Police file, because parliament is in recess for the autumn holiday in French-speaking education. MR, a coalition party, has said it regrets this.

The renewed pressure on Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) follows the news that her spokesperson and a spokeswoman of the Brussels prosecutor's office have been placed under suspicion. Reports say confidential information, normally covered by professional secrecy and/or investigative secrecy, may have been exchanged between the two. On Tuesday, a proposal was tabled for the Justice and Home Affairs committees to jointly question Verlinden and Home Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin (MR).

A dispute over timing

The Justice committee chair, Ismaël Nuino (Les Engagés), refuses to convene the committee now. He wants to wait for a Court of Audit report expected in the coming days. According to Nuino, it is neither urgent nor relevant to ask the Justice minister to comment on an ongoing judicial investigation until then.

MR rejects that position. It says parliament does not need to wait for the Court of Audit and that the minister can already give a political explanation without prejudging its conclusions. According to BRUZZ, MR also says reports of possible interference from Verlinden's cabinet raise questions about the possible role of her close entourage. The party asks for quick clarification, while respecting the presumption of innocence and the independence of the judiciary.

Ortwin Depoortere (Vlaams Belang), chair of the Home Affairs committee, says his committee could question the Justice minister on its own if necessary. He urges that it meet by Friday at the latest, if possible. Verlinden's cabinet says the minister is available in any case.

Background

The i-Police project was a digitalisation project for local police services, launched in 2017 and described as a fiasco with financial mismanagement. It was abandoned last year by the current Interior Minister, after having already cost about 75 million euros of public money.

Before becoming a minister in the De Croo government, Verlinden worked as a lawyer for the French company Sopra Steria, which failed to implement the police digitalisation. According to RTBF, she strongly supported the project and the company's involvement in it, which raised suspicions of a conflict of interest.

RTBF reports it is unlikely she will leave her post, as she remains an important figure in the CD&V, where she has always been backed. Wouter Verschelden, quoted by RTBF, says Flemish politicians in parliament's corridors call her "Madam Teflon. Nothing ever sticks, it's never her fault."