Olga Zrihen
| Olga Zrihen Zaari | |
|---|---|
| Senator | |
|
In office 28 June 2007 – June 2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 January 1953 Casablanca (Morocco) |
| Nationality | Belgian (formerly French), Moroccan |
| Political party | Parti Socialiste |
| Residence | La Louvière |
Olga Zrihen (Arabic: أولجا زريهان; Casablanca, January 10, 1953[1]) is a Moroccan-born Belgian politician and a member of the Parti Socialiste.
Biography
Zrihen was born to a jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco. At the age of 6, her family moved to Lille, France.[2] She has a degree in germanic languages from the University of Mons-Hainaut, today the University of Mons.[3] Zrihen worked as a teacher of german and english between 1976 and 1991.[1]
Political career
Elected to the municipal council of La Louvière, Belgium, at the municipal elections in October 2000, by then as a French citizen. She was re-elected in 2006 and became deputy mayor in 2007.[4]
She became a member of the European Parliament in April 2001, not reelected in June 2004, this time after having acquired Belgian citizenship. A few months later though, she was coopted to the Belgian Senate to replace Philippe Busquin, who was elected to the European Parliament, and in 2007 she was elected to it.[5] She is a member of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians[6] and in March 2002 she supported an appeal in favour of Israeli membership of the European Union.[7][8]
Elected in 2009 as a Member of the Regional Parliament of Wallonia, Zrihen replaced Joëlle Kapompolé as a senator for the waloon community until 2014. She was also the vice-president of the Parti Socialiste between 2011 and 2014.[4]
She has been awarded with the Order of Leopold twice, one in 2007 as a Chevalier, and in 2014 as an Officier.[2]
Election results
- 2001: Municipal councillor of La Louvière
- 2001-2004: Member of the European Parliament
- 2004-2007: Senator, coopted
- 2007-2009: Senator, directly elected
- 2006-2009: Deputy mayor of La Louvière
- 2006-: Municipal Councillor of La Louvière
- Member of the Waloon Parliament since June 30, 2009
- Senator for the French Community:
- June 30, 2009 to May 7, 2010
- July 7, 2010 to May 25, 2014 (replacing Joëlle Kapompolé)
- Since June 23, 2014 (appointed by the Walloon parliament) Vice President of the Senate
- Senator for the French Community:
Honors received
- Knight of the Order of Leopold, 2007
- Officer of the Order of Leopold, 2014
References
- 1 2 Olga Zrihen
- 1 2 Le parcours d'Olga Zrihen
- ↑ Olga Zrihen - PS. Senate of Belgium
- 1 2 Olga Zrihen. European Socialist Party
- ↑ "Belgische Senaat" (in Dutch). Belgian Senate. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
- ↑ International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, June 26, 2005
- ↑ The appeal in favour of Israeli membership of the European Union, Brussels, March 27, 2002
- ↑ Israeli membership of the European Union - Among the first signatories are those who took part in the Conference "Israel in the European Union", held from 4 to 6 March 2002 at the European Parliament: (...) Olga Zrihen, MEP, Socialist Party (Belgium)