Le Soir, June 22, 2009

"Sparks are likely to fly when the Brussels Regional Parliament reconvenes on 23 June. The inaugural session will be co-presided by feminist campaigner Antoinette Spaak of the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), and Mahinur Özdemir of the Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH), Belgium's and mainland Europe's first ever veiled elected representative," reports Le Soir. At age 26, Mahinur Özdemir has been at the centre of controversy prompted by an MR member's proposal "to prevent elected representatives from wearing philosophical and religious symbols."  Le Soir further reports that Mahinur Özdemir, who won her seat at regional elections in June, has worn a veil "on her own initiative since the age of 14 — unlike her sister, who does not wear one." For the daily, the MR member's proposal amounts to an attack on "the very foundation of universal suffrage."