Fouad Ahidar (born October 13, 1973) is a Belgian politician who currently serves as the leader of

Team Fouad Ahidar Team Fouad Ahidar (TFA) is a Belgium, Belgian political party. Founded in 2024 as a minority-interest party, it is named after its founder, Fouad Ahidar. Establishment Fouad Ahidar was elected as a Brussels MP in 2004 for sp.a, later known as Voo ...

, a political party in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He is currently a member of the

Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (; ) is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three federated Communities and regions of Be ...

Political career

In the early 2000s, Ahidar was employed at the Flemish Ministry of Culture and Youth, as part of the staff of minister

Bert Anciaux Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux (born 11 September 1959) is a Belgian politician and Vooruit faction leader in the Belgian Senate. He was one of the founders of Spirit (later known as the Flemish Progressives, then the Social Liberal Party, or ...

. He worked three years in this role, where he was responsible for economic issues, and issues pertaining to the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic community. In 2004, Ahidar was elected to the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region as a member of Socialistische Partij Anders (SP.A). From 2014 to 2019, he was vice-president of the Brussels Parliament. In 2022, he was expelled from

Vooruit Vooruit ( , ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art centre of the Ghent-based labour movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theatre, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts and other cultural events ...

(as the Socialistische Partij Anders was renamed in 2021) for voting against the obligation to stun animals before slaughter. Having remained an independent between 2022 and 2024, he founded his own party,

, in 2024. In the June 2024 elections, Ahidar led his party in what became an unexpectedly strong campaign. The campaign organized primarily around issues relevant to the Islamic community, such as defending Halal slaughter against animal welfare legislation, the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, and opposition to restrictions on niqabs and

burqa A burqa or burka (; ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. Also known as a chadaree (; ) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a ''paranja'' (; ; ) in Central Asia, the Ara ...

s. Ahidar also incorporated other themes into the campaign, including housing and purchasing power. In the June elections, Team Fouad Ahidar won three seats in the Brussels Parliament, and one seat in the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

. The party's emphasis on religious issues is a source of friction in coalition negotiations, with the

Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (, , Open Vld) is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal ...

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( ; N-VA) is a Flemish Movement, Flemish nationalist, Conservatism, conservative Political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-na ...

, and

Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest par ...

ruling out any cooperation with Team Fouad Ahidar. Ahidar is a friend of the controversial

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

. Toujgani is the subject of an ongoing deportation case on the basis of alleged extremist and

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

remarks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahidar, Fouad 1973 births 21st-century Belgian politicians Belgian Muslims Members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region Belgian people of Moroccan descent Living people