Lhe government currently in business in Brussels, led by Rudi Vervoort (PS), has just granted a loan of 300 million euros to the Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (SLRB), which displeases David Leisterh (MR), in charge of negotiations to form a new regional government.
According to The evening, this loan had been blocked by DéFI Minister Bernard Clerfayt since January. This ended up putting the public operator in charge of coordinating social housing companies in difficulty facing their creditors. According to The evening encore, the loan was released on Thursday, in current affairs, in exchange for the granting of a credit of 12 million euros.
Minister Clerfayt’s office disputes the thesis of a political bargain, the timing of the two operations not corresponding. In any case, these releases of significant resources, less than two weeks after the elections, had the gift of greatly irritating David Leisterh, the leader of the Brussels MR.
“A stab for the people of Brussels”
“The Brussels government in current affairs continues to increase the debt despite the voters’ signal for change… It should be in limited responsibility, not in irresponsibility,” he declared via the Belga agency.
For Mr. Leisterh, it is “a stab in the face for the people of Brussels who voted for change” and “a political choice which no longer belongs to the outgoing government since current affairs”. Even if the 2024 budget provided for an expenditure, releasing it after the elections is “a major political act, while significant overruns occurred in the budget”. “Consenting to the expenditure at this stage means agreeing to deviate again from the budgetary trajectory and trying to make the next government powerless,” he underlined.
“In my consultations, I was shocked by the lack of budgetary rigor. Since June 9, Parliament has been the center of democracy. The government is taking advantage of the fact that the new deputies have not even taken the oath of office to escape any democratic control. I ask that he stop the budgetary bleeding immediately,” he said.
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