Peter Mertens was born on 17 December 1969 and is a Belgian politician who led the Workers' Party of Belgium from 2008 to 2021.
13 Facts About Peter Mertens
1.
2.
Peter Mertens has served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives since 2019, and as a municipal councilor in Antwerp since 2013.
3.
In 1994 Mertens became the president of the MLB, which then participated in the strike movement against proposed reforms by the Minister of Higher Education in the government of the French community, Michel Lebrun.
4.
Peter Mertens obtained his licentiate in sociology in 1998 and started working as a temporary employee.
5.
In 1995 the 5th party congress of the PVDA-PTB took place and Peter Mertens was elected to the National Council of the party.
6.
Peter Mertens left his position as president at the youth movement in 1998 and became political secretary in the party branch of the province of Antwerp.
7.
In 2002, at the 7th party congress, Peter Mertens was elected to the party bureau.
8.
At the closing session on 2 March 2008, Peter Mertens was elected as the successor of then party chairman Ludo Martens, who was having serious health problems.
9.
Peter Mertens declared in the Dutch language newspaper De Morgen that his party would leave behind its pedantic attitude and the big theories.
10.
In 2014, Peter Mertens led the Antwerp list for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.
11.
In 2016, Peter Mertens distanced himself from his predecessor Ludo Martens, who used to praise Joseph Stalin.
12.
Peter Mertens received 46,802 preferential votes, ranking him 12th nationally for the Chamber.
13.
Peter Mertens became the first Dutch-speaking Marxist in the Federal Parliament since 1981.