Peter Mertens | |
|---|---|
 Mertens in 2020 | |
| President of theWorkers' Party of Belgium | |
| In office 2 March 2008 – 5 December 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Ludo Martens |
| Succeeded by | Raoul Hedebouw |
| Member of theAntwerp municipal council | |
| Assumed office 2013 | |
| Member of theChamber of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 20 June 2019 | |
| Constituency | Antwerp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-12-17)17 December 1969 (age 55) |
| Political party | Workers' Party of Belgium |
| Education | UFSIA Ghent University |
| Occupation |
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Peter Mertens (born 17 December 1969) is a Belgian politician who led theWorkers' Party of Belgium from 2008 to 2021. He has served as a member of theChamber of Representatives since 2019, and as a municipal councilor inAntwerp since 2013.
Mertens was born inAntwerp. In 1987, when he was 18 years old, he founded theStudenten tegen Racisme (Students against Racism, SteR) with fellowUFSIA studentMarc Spruyt. Four years later, when he was studyingsociology atGhent University, he led a student protest movement against theGulf War. At this time he joined the youth organisation of the Workers' Party of Belgium, theMarxistisch-Leninistische Beweging (Marxist–Leninist Movement, MLB). With this organisation he was also present at a wide range of student activities, like the solidarity campaign with the workers of the shipyardBoelwerf inTemse, which was threatened with closure. In 1994 Mertens became the president of the MLB, which then participated in the strike movement against proposed reforms by the Minister of Higher Education in the government of theFrench community, Michel Lebrun.
Mertens obtained hislicentiate insociology in 1998 and started working as a temporary employee (interim work). For a year and a half he worked as a labourer for industrial cleaning firms and subcontractors in thePort of Ghent.[1]
In 1995 the 5th party congress of the PVDA-PTB took place and Peter Mertens was elected to the National Council of the party. He left his position as president at the youth movement in 1998 and became political secretary in the party branch of the province ofAntwerp. In 2002, at the 7th party congress, Mertens was elected to the party bureau. Another four years later, he became responsible for the daily management of the party.
In 2007, the Workers' Party of Belgium started its Renewal Congress, which gathered 460 delegates. At the closing session on 2 March 2008, Mertens was elected as the successor of then party chairmanLudo Martens, who was having serious health problems.[2] Almost immediately, he began to expand the party's reach to a wider audience. Mertens declared in the Dutch language newspaperDe Morgen that his party would leave behind its pedantic attitude and the big theories. As chairman, he announced his intention to rethink the position of the party in accordance with the decisions taken at the congress, in the process turning his back onMaoism andStalinism.[3] To present the new vision and direction of the party he wrote the bookOp Mensenmaat (On a human scale). Its successor,Hoe durven ze? (How dare they?), appeared in December 2011 and became an instant hit.[4] After half a year 17,000 copies were sold and in 2012 Mertens received theJaap Kruithof Prize for this work.
At thelocal elections of 2012 he was ontop of the list for the municipal election in the city of Antwerp and was elected with 8.976preference votes.[5] This made him the fourth most popular politician in Antwerp, behindBart De Wever,Patrick Janssens andFilip Dewinter.[6]
In 2014, Mertens led the Antwerp list for theBelgian Chamber of Representatives. With 26,010 preferential votes and a result of 4.5 percent in the constituency ofAntwerp, he narrowly failed to reach the electoral threshold.[7] At the same elections, however, the Workers' Party of Belgium for the first time had members elected to the Belgian Federal Parliament:Raoul Hedebouw andMarco Van Hees.
In 2016, Mertens distanced himself from his predecessorLudo Martens, who used to praiseJoseph Stalin.[8]
In the 2018 municipal elections, Mertens was re-elected as a municipal councillor with 11,842 preferential votes.[9]
In the 2019 federal elections, Mertens was the lead candidate on the Workers' Party of Belgium list for the constituency of Antwerp and won a seat inBelgian Chamber of Representatives.[10] He received 46,802 preferential votes, ranking him 12th nationally for the Chamber. He became the first Dutch-speaking Marxist in the Federal Parliament since 1981.
Media related toPeter Mertens at Wikimedia Commons
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