Frederick Delaplace. — © Bart Dewaele
Members of the Flemish Parliament react negatively to the tug-of-war within the VRT to broadcast The Trial That Nobody Wanted. Within the majority, Open VLD is stirring, while CD&V responds positively, the N-VA remains silent.
Valerie Droeven, Karsten Lemmens
Yesterday at 11:11
“This feels like damage control. This should not be the end of the matter,” Flemish Member of Parliament Stephanie D’Hose (Open VLD) responds to the mea culpa of the VRT and the decision to still broadcast the documentary about the De Pauw case. “We cannot simply go back to business as usual. The CEO must urgently talk to the victims to provide clarity.” D’Hose believes that there is something wrong with the “internal processes” of the public broadcaster. “There is an urgent need for a clear description of who is allowed to intervene in VRT’s broadcast schedules and when. Two hundred people, mainly talented women, risked their jobs to sign an open letter. They cannot be the next victims of blunders at the top.”
Minister Dalle responded to X on Monday morning that he thinks resuming the documentary is a good thing. “It leads to the clarity that was needed, in the interests of the women involved,” said the minister. Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) refers to Dalle for a response. N-VA faction leader Wilfried Vandaele does not wish to comment further.
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Flemish Member of Parliament Katia Segers (Vooruit) calls it “perverse that he (Delaplace, ed.) is trying to save his skin with this”. “As head of the largest cultural institution in Flanders, he has already lost all credit from the cultural world. It has become difficult to continue functioning.” The VRT’s fight against transgressive behavior is only a cover-up, Segers believes. “This crisis, which the VRT management has single-handedly caused and which has once again pushed the victims back against the wall, which has once again brought out the pain, makes me sick.”
Her colleague Meyrem Almaci (Green) sees serious errors, “both in the way the decision was made and in the substantive assessment”. As a result, victims were unnecessarily hurt. “And that in a file of transgressive behavior.” Almaci believes that CEO Delaplace is undermining his position and has put him under heavy pressure.