Aboutaleb Wants Second Term

The mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb is in for a second term as mayor for the port city.  He says this in a documentary that RTV Rijnmond reporter Justus Cooiman made ​​about him. Aboutaleb is now almost five years mayor. Next year the council decides whether he may remain in this position.

In the documentary, the 52-year-old Aboutaleb is not only the mayor, but he also talks about his role as a father and how religion plays a role in his life. It is striking that Aboutaleb in this portrait allows his home in front of the camera, because he shuns publicity when it comes to private matters. He would prefer to be judged on his work as mayor only.

Now he can be seen for the first time as the father in his family, he sports and does errands.  Cooiman follows the mayor to the port of Rotterdam, at a safety consultation with local residents in the Old West and during a visit to a high school.

The first Moroccan mayor of a European city had a difficult start because of the beach riots in Hoek van Holland. He was mistrusted by opposition party Leefbaar Rotterdam and was attacked on the increasingly stringent security in the city. After being mayor for five years, he seems to have been accepted by the city council and the population as a Rotterdam citizen..

The documentary will be broadcast in three parts on RTV Rijnmond. Saturday, September 21 the first part can be watched.