Ahmed Aboutaleb, the first mayor in the Netherlands of Moroccan origin, has officially been inaugurated. 47-year old Aboutaleb, former Labour deputy minister of social affairs, was officially inaugurated as mayor of Rotterdam on the first Monday of 2009. Rotterdam’s major political issues include issues of immigration and crime, but Aboutaleb also faces practical matters like financial and infrastructure matters of the city. The inauguration attracted a great deal of international media in several countries, including Morocco, Turkey, Germany, and France.
