Egbert Lachaert

Egbert Lachaert
Leader of Open VLD
Incumbent
In office
22 May 2020 – 2023
Preceded byGwendolyn Rutten
Succeeded byTom Ongena
Member of the Chamber of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
2014
Member of the Flemish Parliament
In office
25 September 2013 – 24 May 2014
Personal details
Born (1977-07-04) July 4, 1977 (age 47)
Ghent, Belgium
CitizenshipBelgian
Political partyOpen VLD
Alma materGhent University
OccupationLawyer, politician

Egbert R. Lachaert (born 4 July 1977, in Ghent) is a Belgian lawyer, politician and was party chairman of the Open VLD.

Biography

Lachaert was born in Ghent and is the son of Flemish politician Patrick Lachaert. He studied law at Ghent University where he was active in the Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV) and served as national president of the LVSV from 1999 to 2000.[1][2] After graduating he worked for the Flemish think-tank Liberales before training as a lawyer.[3]

Lachaert became a member of the Flemish Parliament in 2013 to replace Filip Anthuenis who had resigned his seat.[4] In 2014 Belgian federal election, Lachaert became an MP in the Chamber of Representatives for the East Flanders district and subsequently resigned his seat in the Flemish Parliament. He was re-elected in 2019 and became the Open-VLD's faction leader in the Chamber.[5]

In 2020, he challenged Gwendolyn Rutten for leadership of the Open-VLD during a leadership contest and was subsequently elected as party chairman.[6] As party leader, Lachaert has campaigned for more fiscal responsibility and to stop Belgium's phase out of nuclear power.[7]

At the end of June 2023, Lachaert announced his departure as party chairman. His departure was related to the consecutive poor results for Open Vld in the polls.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Egbert Lachaert". www.dekamer.be. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  2. ^ "Egbert Lachaert neemt het op tegen Rutten" [Egbert Lachaert takes on Rutten]. VRT (in Dutch). 9 November 2012. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  3. ^ "De Croo, Lachaert et van Quickenborne: Le trio Open VLD qui verrouille la Vivaldi". La Libre Belgique (in French).
  4. ^ "Fiche Egbert Lachaert". zewerkenvoorjou.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2016-03-13.
  5. ^ "Fractieleider Egbert Lachaert kandidaat-voorzitter bij Open VLD". Radio 1 (in Dutch). 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  6. ^ "Egbert Lachaert met 61 procent overtuigend verkozen tot nieuwe voorzitter Open Vld, Tommelein strandt op 30 procent". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). May 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "De wereld volgens Open Vld als Lachaert voorzitter wordt: geen kernuitstap en regio's beslissen over alle centen". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  8. ^ VRT NWS (2023-06-28). "Egbert Lachaert stopt als voorzitter van Open VLD, premier De Croo dankt hem voor zijn "enorme toewijding"". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-06-23.

Media related to Egbert Lachaert at Wikimedia Commons