Country Planning, Town Centre Regeneration, Trade, Small Business Owners & Industry and Legal Affairs. He has consistently been re-elected ever since. After the 1988 elections, he again became Alderman in the municipal council, an office he held until 1994. The 1994 elections put a different majority coalition in power in Izegem. He continued to sit as a member of the Izegem municipal council until 2018, and did not stand again in the municipal council elections held that same year. From 2013 until 2018, he chaired the Izegem municipal council. National politics From 1977 onwards, Geert Bourgeois ran in all national elections. He joined the national board of the Volksunie party, and from 1990 until 1993, served as chairman of the Association of Flemish (political) Office Holders. In 1996, he joined the Volksunie party leadership. In the 1995 elections, he was elected as a member of the federal parliament. In the federal Chamber of Representatives, he primarily focused on legal affairs and matters concerning Belgium's different Communities. Even though he served as a member of the opposition, he managed to get several private member's bills of his adopted, such as the Protection of Sources Act, which means that reporters are now only required to reveal the identity of their sources in the event of an emergency. He gained nationwide acclaim for his activities as a member of the Dutroux Committee and the role he played in the Octopus negotiations. In 1999, Bourgeois became leader of the Volksunie political group in the Chamber of Representatives. The following year he was elected general party chairman by the membership of what was then the Volksunie, which saw sitting party chairman Patrik Vankrunkelsven ousted. This election sparked a series of conflicts between the party chairman, who had been directly elected by the members, and the VU's party board, appointed by the party leadership. The differences in opinion came to a head at the time of the Lambermont Agreement. Bourgeois was not prepared to back this agreement, in spite of the fact that it had been approved by the Volksunie's party board. As such, he did not approve it, thus acting contrary to the relevant instructions of the competent bodies within the party. Headed up by then Minister Bert Anciaux, the party board got behind the agreement, in response to which Bourgeois stepped down as party chairman. Around this time, Geert Bourgeois put together the so-called