Former Senate speaker dies aged 66

She continued as a councilor and later Alderman and Mayor when Ben-Ahin merged become part of the City of Huy in the late 1970’s.
In addition to her work in local politics, Ms Lizin also worked as an advisor to the European Commission and to the late Henri Simonet (Francophone socialist) while he was Belgium’s Foreign Minister.

Anne-Marie Lizin was Secretary of State for Europe in the 8th and 9th Wilfried Martens governments. She also served for a time as the speaker of the Belgian Senate.

In January 2009 she was expelled from the Francophone socialist party amid allegations of fraud. This also spelled the end of her time as Mayor. She stood for the 2012 local elections and her slate came second in Huy.

In the same year she appeared in court again, this time to answer allegations of conflict of interest. She was accused and convicted of having used council staff to help her 2007 federal election campaign. Ms Lizin was given a 1-year suspended sentence and a 1,000 euro fine. She was also banned from standing for public office for 5 years.