Olivier Maingain
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Olivier D.A.Gh. Maingain (born August 3, 1958) is a Belgian francophone nationalist politician. After becoming a Master of Laws he became a lawyer in 1982. In 1983 he became the president of the FDF Youth. He was elected as a city councillor of Brussels in 1988. He became a Member of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in 1989 and since 1991 he is a Member of the Chamber of Representatives. He became the president of the Front Démocratique des Francophones (English: Democratic Front of the Francophones) in 1995. He became mayor of the town of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe in Dutch) in 2006.
As alderman of Sports in the city of Brussels he often comes across as racist against the Flemish. For instance, he prohibited the family happening of Bloso, a Flemish sports organisation, in the Koning Boudewijnstadium and also outlawed the organisation of "Boterhammen in het park" (Sandwiches in the park) in the Warandepark.[1] On August 17 2006 interview with Yves Leterme was published, in which Yves Leterme condemned the francophone stance towards the language facilities in the towns around Brussels, by ironically saying "the francophones in the Flemish border are apparently not intellectually able to learn Dutch." Maingain immediately filed a complaint against Yves Leterme for breaking the antiracism law. In August 2007, the complaint was nolled by the General Procurator in Belgium.
In 2007, Maingain became the mayor of Saint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, a town in the Brussels Capital Region.
During the city council meeting of March 27 2007, Maingain made a noticeable remark about the absence of Flemish council member Georges De Smul (CD&V): "CD&V-er De Smul is joining his Apartheid comrades in South Africa." De Smul was indeed in South Africa, where he was on a humanitarian mission for the organization Hope for Africa, with his daughter. Both francophone and Flemish council members protested against this remark. The meeting was cancelled later, but Maingain refused to take back his words.[2]
In the advent of the federal elections of June 10 2007, he was responsible for printing and illegal distribution unilingual French election pamphlets in the Flemish town of Merchtem, with the title "ensemble, le meilleur est avenir." (Together, the best lays in the future.)[3]. In these elections Maingain got 45 439 votes in the still not split electoral arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. His result was better than Laurette Onkelinx and Joëlle Milquet.
[edit] Political stance
Maingain, as the president of a political party, that was founded on the bases of the problems between both communities in Belgium, likes to profile himself as the great defender of francophone interests. His refusing to compromise characterize him as an extremist, often comparable to the stances of the Flemish extreme-right party Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). His party, FDF has been dubbed Frans Belang (French Interest) many times. In Flanders he has the reputation of "Vlamingenhater" or Fleminghater and linguicist or language racist.
[edit] External Links
Personal website : http://maingain.be
