In response, Chahid emphasized that the focus should be on combating all forms of abuse, including those involving offshore accounts, rather than targeting specific communities.

Chahid further accused Bouchez of using these comments as a distraction from the MR's unfulfilled electoral promises, particularly concerning workers' purchasing power and pension cuts.

He claimed that Bouchez's remarks were an attempt to appeal to right-wing voters by stigmatizing the Moroccan community.

On April 18, 2025, socialist MP Ridouane Chahid accused Georges-Louis Bouchez, the president of the MR party, of racism due to his comments regarding social welfare fraud involving the Moroccan community.

Bouchez rejected these allegations, asserting that his remarks were grounded in factual findings from a Flemish investigation into housing benefit fraud.

During an interview on Bel RTL, Bouchez had stated that some individuals with properties abroad, particularly in Morocco, were fraudulently receiving social benefits in Belgium.

Such public accusations of racism against a political party president are rare in Belgium, underscoring the heightened political tensions between the PS and MR parties.

Chahid's comments are likely to exacerbate the already strained relations between socialists and liberals in the capital, where efforts to form a new regional majority have stalled for ten months.

Bouchez pointed to a bilateral agreement between Belgium and Morocco aimed at preventing social abuse, reinforcing his stance that fraud is a legitimate concern.

An investigation revealed that over half of the social housing beneficiaries audited were found to own properties abroad, primarily in Morocco, Turkey, and Italy.

Chahid criticized the PS for overusing the term 'racism', suggesting it could diminish its impact, and called for apologies from the PS leadership, indicating a troubling trend within the party.