In a lengthy interview with Paris Match Belgique, the Minister for Sport, Civil Service, Administrative Simplification and Media, Jacqueline Galant, speaks candidly about her journey, the ordeals she has faced and her vision of political commitment. A rare, personal and deeply human interview.
Coming from a working-class background, Jacqueline Galant recalls growing up with the value of hard work as her guide. “My dad worked in vehicle inspection and my mum on the farm,” she confides. Before politics, though, she had envisaged a very different path: forensic medicine. “Death intrigued me deeply, I wanted to understand what happens there,” she explains. But her father's health problems led her to choose political science instead. A decision that would change the course of her life.
In this interview, the Minister also speaks about her direct style and her constant determination to move forward. “People say I'm a bulldozer. If that means reforming, making decisions and pushing forward, then I own it,” she affirms, fully embracing the reforms currently under way in Wallonia.
Jacqueline Galant also looks back on the personal attacks she has endured throughout her political career. “I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that no one in politics has ever been treated as badly as I have,” she states, denouncing the often harsher treatment faced by women involved in politics. Despite everything, she refuses to give in to discouragement: “Despite the criticism, we must carry on. Because if no one is left to look after public affairs, we leave room for the worst excesses.”
The interview also reveals a more intimate side of the Minister, particularly regarding her relationship with her son. “I feel very guilty about my absences,” she confides, explaining that she leaves him a note every morning before heading off to work very early.
Finally, Jacqueline Galant speaks about her relationship with Georges-Louis Bouchez, marked by differences but also by complementarity and mutual respect. “We are different but complementary,” she sums up.
Through this unfiltered interview, Jacqueline Galant delivers a powerful testimony on commitment, resilience and the need to keep speaking honestly in politics.