Belgian Minister under siege for soccer riot

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 6

Belgian Minister under siege for soccer riot

The Belgian Interior Minister, Mr Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, survived yesterday a vote on the European Cup final soccer riot of May 29, in which 38 fans died, but his Liberal coalition partners urged him to resign. The entire Opposition walked out of the chamber after the Government used a procedural device to pre-

vent a direct vote on Mr Nothomb’s responsibility for security failures, leaving the Centre-Right majority to adopt a neutral motion on the issue. A Liberal spokesman, Charles Poswick, said his party was supporting the motion only to ensure the Government’s survival. “Otherwise, I would have

voted no to show how much in my view it would have been preferable for the Interior Minister spontaneously and at the appropriate moment to offer his resignation. “I hope he will still do so." Mr Nothomb sat impassively and said nothing. The motion adopted by

the four-party coalition admitted serious security shortcomings at the stadium on May 29 and urged the Government to act on the findings. Three Government backbenchers voted against the resolution in a protest and four abstained, including Parliament’s President (speaker),