L‘Open VLD, finally contacted formally by trainer Bart De Wever (N-VA) as part of the negotiations for the formation of a federal government, responded favorably to the invitation. For several days, rumors had been circulating about the “replacement” of the Flemish socialists by the liberals in the future federal coalition. But, the Flemish blues regretted, they had not yet received a clear request. This is now done, we learned on Thursday, and “the content of the discussion between the trainer and the VLD will be discussed internally”, declared the president of the Open VLD Eva De Bleeker .
The “Lagoon”, this yellow-orange-blue-turquoise coalition, would on the other hand only have 76 seats in the House, a very narrow majority of one seat. Also, with the return of the VLD, the liberal family would form the largest in the coalition, a title that the centrists had in the Arizona formula. Note also that the Christian Democrats, in the absence of Vooruit, would automatically find themselves on the left wing of the government. For these reasons, behind the scenes, and because the majority is short and does not even exist on the Dutch-speaking side, in public, the CD&V refuses at this stage to accept the option of a return of the VLD.
Sammy Mahdi explained that he feared “a circus every week in Parliament”, and that the return of Vooruit remained “the only realistic option”. In a press release, Les Engagés goes in the same direction. “On Monday, Conner Rousseau decided to leave the Arizona table on the grounds that the volumes of the large budgetary masses did not suit him and that the “super note” lacked balance. We share the same observation and have expressed it, but we have another approach to solving the equation: that of negotiating rather than deserting. We therefore deplored and denounced this withdrawal,” underlined Mr. Prévot. “In recent days, several Vooruit leaders have reaffirmed their favorable disposition for an Arizona configuration and their availability if significant modifications were made to the tables,” added the president of the Engagés.
This Friday, the president of the Open VLD Eva De Bleeker should therefore meet Bart De Wever in his capacity as trainer for a first interview. Despite several bilateral meetings in the Chamber this Thursday between De Wever, Mahdi and Prévot, a five-party meeting, bringing together all the parties, is therefore not yet on the agenda.
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