Youssef Handichi: “Quando sei un dirigente PVDA/PTB, Raoul Hedebouw ti sembra già un po ‘meno piacevole per te …”

Some choice parts:

*[…I am also struck by the profile of the people who are leaving the party.*

***What profile do they have?***

*Whether it’s MEP Rudi Kennes (who left the PTB at the beginning of March), Soulaimane El Mokadem, or myself, we all have a working-class background. We knew the rule from the start. When you reach a milestone, when you go from activist to executive, you have to hand over a large portion of your income to the party. But in practice, the only ones who manage to keep up the pace are the Raoul Hedebouws of this world, the Kim De Witte (federal MP), the Pestieauxs, or Sofie Merckx (group leader in Parliament), who all come from a well-off, even very well-off, background. They have assets, through their grandparents, etc. I have none of that. I even found myself earning less (indexation, etc.) as an MP than a STIB worker, where I came from. …]*

&

*[Ordinary members pay a 20 euro annual membership fee and barely know it’s a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist party. They just see that Raoul is nice. This is only the first step in internal involvement. Only at the third level do you become an activist. They discuss with you how the capitalist state works, and they make you put on Marxist glasses to analyze it. You study the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which is presented to you as THE model that must be duplicated in Belgium. It’s only at this stage that the discussion on the financial aspect comes into play* [*(Editor’s note: activists, even non-elected ones, are required to pay a portion of their salary each month, and elected officials cannot earn more than in their previous job).*](https://archive.is/o/VDzST/https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/politique-belge/2023/03/18/javais-limpression-quon-en-voulait-a-mon-argent-au-ptb-les-militants-sont-tenus-de-verser-chaque-mois-une-partie-de-leur-salaire-5IFBOR6C6JAJFI2LP6T6L7ZHEY/)*]*

> Ils disposent d’un patrimoine, via leurs grands-parents, etc. Moi, je n’ai rien de tout cela. Je me suis même retrouvé à gagner moins (indexation, etc.) comme député qu’un travailleur STIB, d’où je venais.

Om in te kaderen.

Partij van de niet betalen van arbeid.