Harrie Hendrickx Explained

Harrie Hendrickx
Party:CVP/CD&V
Office:Mayor of Schoten
Term Start:2003
Term End:2012
Office2:Acting Mayor of Schoten
Term Start2:May 2003
Term End2:June 2003
Office3:Member of the Schoten Municipal Council
Term Start3:1971
Term End3:2003
Spouse:Lydia Denissen
Education:Political and Social Sciences, Bookkeeping
Nationality: Belgium

Harrie Hendrickx is a former Belgian local politician in Schoten for the Christian democratic CVP/CD&V party.

Biography

Hendrickx studied Political and Social sciences and subsequently Bookkeeping. After finishing his education, he entered the financial sector, and was employed at A.V., BAC, BACOB and finally Dexia. In 1983 he started as an independent insurance consultant.[1]

In 1970 he became politically active during the local elections, and was elected to the municipal council. Hendrickx was able to hold on to this position until May 2003, when he was appointed as acting mayor, replacing then mayor Tony Sebrechts (also a member of the CD&V party). After the fulfilling of legal formalities in June, he was appointed as mayor.[2]

In 2002, he was subject of a larger investigation into literary forgery and violations of the building regulations. Due to the running investigation, he could not be sworn in as mayor by provincial governor Camille Paulus, having won the municipal elections that year. The charges against him were eventually dropped by the prosecutor because no evidence of wrongdoing had been found, and Hendrickx was able to start his second term.[3] Hendrickx also gained prominence in the national media during the runup to the same election, after declaring he was willing to break the cordon sanitaire and form a coalition with the far right Vlaams Belang, led by Marie-Rose Morel. Eventually, this turned out to be unnecessary, as the tripartite of CD&V/N-VA, VLD and SP.A was formed instead.[4] In the local elections of 2012, Hendrickx and the CD&V were defeated by the N-VA candidate Maarten De Veuster, who is coincidentally also his son in law. He has since retired from politics.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fiche Harrie Hendrickx. CD&V. 3 August 2017. Dutch. https://web.archive.org/web/20160818025423/http://nieuwsbrief.cdenv.be/harrie-hendrickx. 18 August 2016. dead.
  2. News: Harrie Hendrickx wordt volgende week burgemeester. De Standaard. 12 July 2003. 3 August 2017. dutch.
  3. Web site: Burgemeester van Schoten kan eindelijk eed afleggen. 3 August 2017. Dutch. Politics.be.
  4. Web site: Handige Harry . De Tijd . 9 October 2012. 3 August 2017. Dutch.
  5. News: Maarten De Veuster volgt schoonvader Harrie Hendrickx op als burgemeester . Het Nieuwsblad. 18 October 2012. 3 August 2017. Dutch.