In Brussels, it is the leader of the capital’s French-speaking liberals who has the upper hand: David Leisterh. Very discreet, what is the latest information that may have filtered out?
Forming a government in Brussels is complicated. Indeed, the Reform Movement will have to deal with the first Dutch-speaking party, Groen, headed by Elke Van Den Brandt. This morning, on Bel RTL, she asked the president of the French-speaking liberal party, Georges-Louis Bouchez, to let the leader of the Brussels MR, David Leisterh, take his place and negotiate. “There is David Leisterh, who is the first on the French-speaking side. I am the first on the Dutch-speaking side. We’re going to have to form a two-person government, and that’s done by talking, that’s done by discussing, and that’s not done by making big statements in the press.“, indicated on our airwaves Elke Van Den Brandt.
David Leisterh, very discreet
In addition to Dutch speakers, we also have to negotiate with French speakers in Brussels. And things are difficult, testifies our journalist at the MR headquarters in Brussels. Who will join forces with the MR/Engagés duo? A question that remains unanswered, especially since David Leisterh wants media discretion in order to preserve the chances of success. For the moment, no names have been leaked. It is also impossible to know which party David Leisterh will meet.
Two possible scenarios
To have a Brussels government and therefore a majority, two choices are possible on the French-speaking side:
- The MR/Engagés duo and the PS.
- The duo MR/Engagés and Défi.
The resigning president of Défi, François De Smet, has already met the Brussels MR, although he announced that his party would choose the opposition. Regarding Ecolo, they were very clear: they will not go to a majority in Brussels.
On the side of the PS, the president of the party, Paul Magnette, had announced that the socialists would go to the opposition, everywhere. But the Brussels leader, Ahmed Laaouej, and Karine Lalieux are more nuanced.
Behind the scenes, negotiations continue.
The MR denies one in five Brussels residents.
The MR has already excluded the PTB from the negotiations. What the radical left party does not like: “We were received by the King, and by Bart De Wever, and in 2019, by the PS, but now not by the MR in Brussels, and in the Federation not by the MR and nor by the Engagés. We note that they receive the losers of the elections. It’s scandalous. This amounts to denying one in five Brussels residents who voted for a policy of rupture. This worries us for democracy“, declared Thursday the head of the PTB list in the Brussels Region Françoise De Smedt.
Alongside Nabil Boukili, head of the PTB list in the Chamber, she presented the elected representatives of her party in Brussels, among whom youth and the world of work are widely represented. The leaders of the far-left party believe that it has continued its progress in Brussels and Flanders and that it has stabilized in Wallonia.
In Brussels, according to them, the PTB came first in several Brussels municipalities. In Anderlecht, its bilingual list for the Chamber won 24.5% of the votes (+5%); in Molenbeek, 26.2% (+6.4%); in Saint-Gilles 22.4% (+3%); in Schaerbeek, 20.9% (+ almost 5%); in Forest, 19.6% (+5.2%), and in the City of Brussels, it is neck and neck with the PS after having progressed by 4.7%.
Now, the objective is to consolidate these results in view of the municipal elections in October to make itself essential and enter into majorities, further underlined the leaders of the PTB in Brussels.
Belgian elections 2024 MR Boucher David Leisterh
