Johan Weyts (9 June 1939 – 20 May 2021) was a Belgian

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

politician who sat in the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parlia ...

from 1987 to 1999. Born in Mechelen, Weyts had a doctorate in law from

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. He was a member of Bruges city council from 1971 to 1995, when he was first elected to the senate for the

Arrondissement of Bruges The Arrondissement of Bruges ( nl, Arrondissement Brugge; french: Arrondissement de Bruges) is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement ...

. His parliamentary questions mostly related to finance, transport and fisheries. He was also a member of the Vlaamse Raad from 1988, and sat in the

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

from 1999 to 2004. In 1999 he risked expulsion from his party for supporting far-right positions of

Vlaams Blok ''Vlaams Blok'' ( en, Flemish Block, or VB) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.Erk, 2005, pp. 493-502. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence ...

, and in 2004 there were renewed calls for his expulsion when it emerged he was vice-chair of a committee to prevent "foreigners" from voting that had been set up by Vlaams Blok.Mark Deweerdt, "Overzicht van het Belgische politiek gebeuren in 2004", ''Res Publica: Political Yearbook of Belgium'', 47:2-3 (2005), p. 233.

References

1939 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Belgian lawyers Members of the Senate (Belgium) Members of the Flemish Parliament Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians KU Leuven alumni Ghent University alumni Politicians from Mechelen {{Flanders-politician-stub