Belgian mayor arrested on corruption charges

The mayor of Charleroi, Belgium’s fourth largest city, has been arrested on corruption charges, adding to the woes of the ruling Francophone socialist party, authorities said today.

Jacques Van Gompel was charged with forgery and fraud in the running of the southern city of 200,000, a bastion of the PS socialist party, judicial authorities said. His arrest came after daylong questioning yesterday.

The Socialist outgoing mayor of Namur, the administrative centre of southern Wallonia, was also charged on Friday in a corruption scandal, authorities said.

The PS Francophone socialists are the second-biggest coalition partner in the government of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. The coalition is made up of liberals and socialists, each split in Dutch-speaking and Francophone parties.

Socialist leader Elio di Rupo called on all party members to co-operate with authorities. “If there were infractions, the people concerned will have to be punished,” he said.

Even though the socialists lost their absolute majority during this month’s municipal elections, Van Gompel was still expected to lead a broad coalition of socialists, liberals and Christian democrats.