Guido De Padt | |
|---|---|
 Guido De Padt in 2009 | |
| Member of the Senate | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2010 | |
| Mayor of Geraardsbergen | |
| Assumed office 30 December 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Freddy De Chou |
| In office 1 January 2001 –31 December 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Freddy De Chou |
| Succeeded by | Freddy De Chou |
| Government Commissioner | |
| In office 17 July 2009 –20 July 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Yves Leterme |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 30 December 2008 –17 July 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Herman Van Rompuy |
| Preceded by | Patrick Dewael |
| Succeeded by | Annemie Turtelboom |
| Member of the Chamber of Representatives | |
| In office 17 May 2003 –30 December 2008 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 May 1954 Geraardsbergen, Belgium |
| Political party | Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats |
Guido De Padt (born 23 May 1954) is a Belgian politician and Senator [1] for the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats. Since December 2011, he also is the mayor of Geraardsbergen, an office he also held from 2001 until 2006.
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, commonly known as Open VLD or simply as the VLD, is a conservative-liberal Flemish political party in Belgium. The party was created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 until March 2008. Open VLD most recently formed the Federal Government with N-VA, CD&V and the Francophone Reformist Movement (MR).
Geraardsbergen is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen proper and the following towns:
He started his national career as member of the Chamber of Representatives. From December 2008 to July 2009, he was Minister of the Interior in the Van Rompuy I Government. [2] In the Leterme II Government, he was appointed government commissioner for the internal audit of the federal government. [3] In 2011, he replaced the socialist Freddy De Chou as mayor of Geraardsbergen. He got national media attention as strong defender to keep the Muur van Geraardsbergen in the Tour of Flanders. His party won the 2012 local elections in Geraardsbergen with 36% of the votes, while he got 25.8% of the preference votes. In contrast with other liberal leaders in Flanders, his popularity had grown. [4]
This is the list of Belgian ministers of the Interior.
The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Van Rompuy I Government which ended when Herman Van Rompuy became the first President of the European Council. It comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH).
The Muur van Geraardsbergen is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hill starts near the river Dender at 18 m and reaches the top of the Oudenberg at 110 m after 1,075 m at 9.3 per cent. This climb is often part of the Tour of Flanders professional cycling race.
