For the Open Vld, it is time to take stock, after the defeat of the elections. MP Egbert Lachaert speaks of a strategic error and clearly targets Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. He believes that he was a good crisis manager, but a “less good” defender of liberal values.
Egbert Lachaert, the Open Vld deputy, was the guest of Bel RTL morning. At the microphone of Martin Buxant, the former president of the Flemish Liberals analyzes the defeat of his party in the elections. He believes that an overhaul of his party is necessary and plans to take over the leadership of the Open Vld.
You are one of the last Mohicans, as they say, a Flemish liberal. There aren’t many left after the June 9 elections. What analysis did you make of this electoral defeat? Why such a debacle?
I believe that the Open VLD experienced a defeat like the MR experienced 5 years ago. After the Michel government, it was a bit the same thing. When you are in the Prime Minister’s party as a party, sometimes the party suffers because it is your responsibility as a party to manage this coalition. It was an extremely complicated coalition with seven parties. And so to manage and keep the whole thing together, sometimes we lose our own line, our own conviction. And I think that was a problem for the MR when Charles Michel was Prime Minister. And it was a problem also for the Open VLD when Alexander De Croo was the party leader. But it was difficult for the party to express itself, to really take the color blue. And I believe that the electorate, our electorate, needs the color blue.
Alexander De Croo was a disadvantage, a handicap, a burden we shall say, rather than an advantage?
The problem is that you have to make a choice. At a certain point, strategically, the party chose to put everything on the Prime Minister, the management of the country. He did this very well during several crises.
Was he a good Prime Minister?
He was a good Prime Minister, especially during the first period of this previous legislature because there were a lot of crises to manage. He was a really good crisis manager. But, when it was necessary to make the reforms that the liberals expected in the job market, pension, budget, I believe that our electorate was disappointed.
Did he forget that he was a Flemish liberal?
And second thing, what he didn’t really see or not enough, was that the Open VLD really wanted to fight, to put red lines where we couldn’t accept that it went further than that.
Was he too soft?
If we compare with the MR, the MR did this thoroughly and it still gave a result.
We still feel a little regret, even if you don’t dare really attack Alexander De Croo, right?
We must be respectful, but I believe that strategically, it was a mistake to put everything on the Prime Minister because a political project does not depend only on a character, but above all on a conviction, in a way where we see society evolving. That’s fundamental and if you don’t believe in your political project, you can’t convince people.
open vld prime minister alexander de croo Lachaert Flemish liberals
