Who flops better?

The flops are a true institution of the winter edition of LOBBY magazine and its LOBBY AWARDS. This, since the creation of the ceremony. We reassure you right away, 2022 did not escape the rule! Especially since the past year has been full of failures of all kinds... And it's really worth to come back on these delights!

This is not an award like any other. It's not an award at all. But flops are a real LOBBY AWARDS tradition(see the LOBBY AWARDS video here). Every year, LOBBY magazine and its award ceremony focus on the biggest "fails" of the year. Here is a small selection.

The first one that comes to mind is of course the (...very short) course of our Red Devils at the World Cup in Qatar. Far be it from us to shoot on an ambulance, but we have to admit that the Red Devils have disappointed us again. And not only a little. This generation of players, which was described as golden, will not have won any trophy...

Qatar again, but this time on the political side. If there is a question that has long divided the Belgian political class, it is the boycott, or not, of this World Cup. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, was chosen to support the Red Devils in the group stage of the tournament. What, in the end, was preferable, given the course of our players ... Without making political analysis to two cents, we can still wonder about the deep convictions of our elected officials. The defense of minorities and human rights obviously takes second place when there is a World Cup and, above all, a Qatari partner not to offend, as its financial power is great.

Let's go back to Belgium and Brussels, also called "hell" by motorists, since the great Good Move plan was put in place. The objective of this plan is, according to the official press release, to reduce transit traffic on less important roads and to give more space to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. As a result of this regional plan, several municipalities have implemented new traffic plans. And therein lies the problem. It would seem that this traffic plan was devised by officials who never drive a car... in Brussels. Some of the neighbourhoods concerned rebelled, the Engagés (ex-CDH) were asked to be consulted, and the plan was cancelled in a hurry in some neighbourhoods, such as Cureghem... And this is just a non-exhaustive list of the consequences of the implementation of "Good Move".

But Wallonia is not left out. Watch out, here comes the Registrar. Frédéric Janssens himself! Nobody knew this character. Today, no one is unaware of his human qualities: he is described as a demanding leader whose mood swings created a bad climate at work. A perfectionist who became a maniac, who humiliated and insulted his staff for trivial mistakes (width of a margin in a document, misuse of the comma...) and who used dubious methods to punish the one he had a crush on (cancellation of leave at the last minute, blocking of an entire department until late in the evening until the problem was solved...), who humiliated in public the staff for the most part.), who humiliated in public and even threw his punch at the staff... In addition to the harassment of his subordinates, there is also talk of mismanagement, excessive or "prestige" spending and trips of questionable interest. As for example: € 4,646 spent on a round trip to Los Angeles in July 2018, € 4,308 for three days in Montreal and Ottawa in April 2019, € 4,887 for a symposium in Nashville in August 2019, etc. Not bad, right?

More juicy details and other majestic flops can be found in LOBBY 58 magazine which you can find here.

In the meantime, if by chance you have nothing to do this weekend, try to reach the Place du Sablon and the Place de Brouckère by car, without any hassle... It will be, for sure, a good move...