PS Extends Tutelage Over Molenbeek Branch by One Year

The Brussels federation of Belgium’s Socialist Party (PS) has extended its external control over the party’s Molenbeek branch by one year, until September 2027, after the return of mayor Catherine Moureaux failed to restore calm to one of the country’s most turbulent local political scenes. The decision, taken on Monday 28 September 2026, marks the fourth consecutive extension of a tutelage imposed in spring 2025.

According to La Libre Belgique, the situation remains so strained that “the return of Catherine Moureaux changed nothing.” The federation’s decision keeps the section under the management of a triumvirate rather than its elected local leadership.

A Section Under External Management

The Molenbeek PS section has been run by a three-person team since spring 2025: federal MP Khalil Aouasti, former Pensions Minister Karine Lalieux, and Laurent Gabelle, a figure close to the mayor of Anderlecht. La Libre reported in June 2025 that under the arrangement, the local section is obliged to follow the trio’s directives—an exceptional disciplinary measure that had previously been applied only once in the Brussels region, in Saint-Josse, after the exclusion of Emir Kir.

The tutelage has been renewed repeatedly: imposed for four months in May 2025, extended by three months in September 2025, then by six months in April 2026, and now by a full year. DH Les Sports+ noted at the time of the first extension that the section was “in turmoil,” with the mayor on sick leave and an alderman’s appointment annulled by the party’s national vigilance commission over voting irregularities.

Moureaux’s Return and Divergent Accounts

Catherine Moureaux, mayor of the municipality of roughly 100,000 residents since 2018, returned to her duties in March 2026 after about fifteen months of absence due to burnout. Her comeback was widely expected to ease tensions, but the extension of the tutelage suggests otherwise.

Aouasti justified the renewal by citing a situation “moving toward appeasement,” warning against lifting the tutelage too quickly and expressing hope of “handing back the keys” in September 2027. Moureaux, for her part, said the tutelage was extended at her own request, explaining that the municipality’s current demands required her full attention and that she preferred questions concerning the local section’s organisation to be handled by the federation.

Internal critics read the decision differently. An unnamed well-informed source described it as “a very negative signal sent to Catherine Moureaux,” arguing that she has been marginalised within the party after seeing her electoral score halve, and asking whether a figure such as Brussels mayor Philippe Close would ever accept the tutelage of his own section.

A Majority That Struggles to Govern

The party dispute sits atop a broader governance crisis. In September 2026, Molenbeek’s municipal council failed twice in a row to reach a quorum, with opposition counts suggesting only 11 or 12 of the council’s 45 members were present. DH Les Sports+ reported that the majority “does not manage to gather half of its own councillors,” delaying decisions on matters including the CPAS social welfare budget.

MR group leader Maria-Gloria Garcia Fernandez was blunt: “The return of Catherine Moureaux changed nothing. This majority can no longer govern.” She also criticised the PTB, the coalition’s far-left partner: “The communists apparently thought it was enough to occupy the posts. But exercising power means working, being accountable and respecting citizens.” PTB first alderman Dirk De Block denied any conflict within the majority, insisting his party had “always been present in numbers” over the term.

The 2024 Earthquake and Its Aftermath

The current instability traces back to the October 2024 municipal elections. VRT NWS/BRUZZ reported that the PS-Vooruit list fell to 23.1% from 31.3% six years earlier, while the far-left PTB/PVDA rose to 22.2%, a gain of more than eight points. The liberals of MR-VLD dropped to 17.1%, and Team Fouad Ahidar broke through from nowhere to 14.6%. The resulting PS-Vooruit/PTB coalition—with Molenbeek Autrement, which won 9.4%—commands just 23 of 45 seats, a single-seat margin.

According to the PTB, the new majority took office on 6 December 2024, with 12 councillors for PS-Vooruit, 11 for the PTB and four for Molenbeek Autrement. The coalition promised action on housing costs, cleanliness and youth employment, but financial pressures have since mounted. In June 2026, the municipality announced the dismissal of 40 municipal agents amid a precarious budget.

The party’s internal quarrels have compounded these difficulties. A series of figures have been sidelined or have left, and the contested alderman Mohamed Kalandar—whose appointment was annulled over a judicial record—must cede his mandate in June 2028 to Khalil Boufraquech, under a compromise reported by La Libre. Even that arrangement is doubted: one source warned that “we cannot exclude that Mohamed Kalandar decides to stay in place.”

Why It Matters

Molenbeek is not just any municipality. Long a Socialist stronghold, it gained unwelcome international attention after the 2015 Paris and 2016 Brussels attacks. The PS’s difficulty in governing its own heartland—while the far left gains ground—reflects wider strains within Belgian and European social democracy, where local dynasties such as the Moureaux clan face pressure from a resurgent radical left.

One unnamed party cadre described the deeper problem plainly: “There are no longer homogeneous blocs behind strong leaders. Personal interests take precedence.”

What to Watch

All eyes are now on whether the federation can genuinely “hand back the keys” in September 2027, and whether the fragile majority can keep governing in the meantime. The municipal council’s third convocation on the same agenda can proceed without a quorum, but repeated absences have exposed a coalition that struggles to marshal its own members.

Should the current trajectory hold, attention will soon shift to 2030. As one source speculated, the question then may not be which socialist wears the mayor’s sash, but which elected official becomes first alderman to the PTB’s Dirk De Block—a measure of how far the balance of power in Molenbeek has shifted.