Asharq Al-Awsat
Two women of Moroccan descent, Zakia Khattabi, and Meryame Kitir were appointed on Thursday in the new Belgian federal government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Khattabi was named minister in charge of the environment and sustainable development while Meryame Kitir was appointed minister of cooperation and urban development.
Born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode to Moroccan parents from Tetouan, Khattabi received a BA in social work from l’Université Libre de Bruxelles.
As a co-chairwoman of the Belgian Greens party, she was elected as an MP in 2009 to 2014 when she joined the federal parliament.
The Belgian-Moroccan politician served as the president of the Ecolo party, a Francophone party based on green politics, from 2015 until September 2019.
The second minister, Kitiri, is born to parents from the south-eastern city of Ouarzazate.
She started her professional career with Ford in Genk in 1999 as a worker before becoming a socialist union leader.
She is a member of the Socialist Union Party and was elected to the Maasmechelen municipal council in 2006 and became a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2007.
The politician was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and in 2019 she served as the leader of her political group until her appointment as a federal minister.
The appointment of both politicians of Moroccan origin to the Belgian government is a first in the European country’s political history.
De Croo’s government, which took the oath Thursday before King Philippe, also includes the new Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration (CD&V), Sammy Mahdi, who was born in 1988 to an Iraqi father and a Flemish mother.
