Louis Tobback
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NOTE: This is mainly a short translation of the Dutch article on Louis Tobback. See there [1] for the full version.
Louis Tobback (born May 3, 1938) is a Belgian politician. He is currently the mayor of Leuven.
Tobback is a Flemish socialist and member of the political party SP.a (formerly known as SP).
He started his political career in 1965 in the council of the OCMW(nl) / CPAS(fr). In 1971 he was elected a member of the city council of Leuven, and became eerste schepen (first alderman).
In 1974, he became the leader of the socialist fraction in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and became a controversial but respected politician. Tobback is known for his oneliners in which he clearly states his opinion.
From 1988 until 1994 he was Belgian Interior Minister in two coalition formed by Christian democrats and socialists, who faced the tough task to make Belgium satisfy the Maastricht norms. It was known that he liked cooperating with Jean-Luc Dehaene, who was Prime Minister from 1992 until 1999.
In 1994 he became president of the Flemish Socialist Party (SP, now SP.a). In that time the party had a hard time due to the Agusta scandal in which several Flemish and Walloon socialists were accused of corruption. Despite this, the party did not lose too many votes in the federal and regional elections in 1995. As president of the SP, he also started a campaign of ideological and organisatorical innovation within the party.
In 1995, Tobback also became the mayor of Leuven, and he was granted the title of Minister of State as a recognition of his political prestations.
In April 1998, he again became Interior Minister, after Johan Vande Lanotte (also SP.a) resigned because of the escape of Marc Dutroux during his transport from jail to the court hall. In September 1998 he resigned himself after a Nigerian immigration candidate died during her forced repatriation.
As of 10 October, 2006, Tobback is the mayor of Leuven. He retained his position in the election earlier that month. [2]
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