On the Socialist coast, we were open to a larger majority on the condition that the PS retained three provincial deputy positions out of the five. Enlisted personnel who had two were asked to give one to the MR. But the liberals, more greedy, hoped to see the PS give him a second position as provincial deputy, which the PS did not want.
Following these discussions focused on the positions to be filled rather than on the substance of the policy to be pursued in the province of Hainaut, Engagés and MR made a take-it-or-leave-it proposal to the PS, reinforced by the fact that, together, they have a narrow majority: this involves removing one provincial deputy mandate out of the five. The PS would keep two, the MR and Les Engagés each being content with one mandate.
Paul Magnette: “It is as much the attitude of the MR and the Engagés as the result of the ballot boxes that led to this situation”
The bored PS, constrained and forced, accepts the proposal causing significant internal turmoil. Indeed, the elected representative of the Wapi region (Picardie Wallonia), Laetitia Liénard, who had a great score in the provincial elections, would be blocked by Eric Massin (Charleroi) and Pascal Lafosse (Mons), outgoing provincial deputies having obtained a better penetration rate than Ms. Liénard. The position of Fabienne Capot (from the Center region), outgoing MP, is also under attack.
Former Walloon Minister-President Rudy Demotte, particularly annoyed by the absence of a Wapi representative in the college, made this known through a publication in Picrate on social networks. He criticizes his federation in particular for not having fought hard enough for Picardy Wallonia to have a provincial deputy mandate. The president of the socialist federation of Wapi, Dorothée De Rodder, then issued a response on the networks denouncing the comments of her party colleague.
Quarrels between Tournaisian socialists
Friday evening, the majority pact for Hainaut was to be signed by the three parties but the MR did not come. The PS would then have decided to start again with the initial formula by which it would recover three provincial deputies instead of two. A way to resolve the internal quarrel between Tournaisian socialists. You have to follow…
It must be said that in the meantime another disagreement has arisen between liberals and Engagés in Walloon Brabant. Indeed, by virtue of a pre-agreement between them, confirmed on election night and in view of the results collected by the two parties, the MR must receive three mandates from provincial deputies and Les Engagés only one. Until last week everything was fine. But, annoyed by the situation in Hainaut, Les Engagés are considering doing without the MR who is procrastinating. The centrists smelling the right thing let the MR know that the maintenance of the liberals in the future Hennuyère provincial majority is now linked to better representation of the Engagés in Walloon Brabant. The Engagés of the BW unilaterally announce, after agreement between the two party presidents, that the provincial college will be composed of two liberal provincial deputies and two Engagés. The centrists won the presidency of the provincial council in the process. The elected MRs of the province of Walloon Brabant are stunned and consider that this new situation has no reason to exist. The blockage is complete.
Rudy Demotte very upset towards the PS: “You are better than the quagmire of ambitious egocentrics”
According to several sources, there would be, among other things, the prospect of seeing Lucie Demaret become a provincial deputy in Hainaut. Elected to the provincial council, the companion of Georges-Louis Bouchez, the president of the MR, could pass in front of her party colleague, Aurore Goossens, who nevertheless achieved a better score in the October 13 election. Since the Liberals can only hope for one seat in the provincial college, a choice is necessary. A third person could enter the equation. A vote will take place, we are told.
Summarizing this affair to the desire of the president of the MR to entrust at all costs a mandate as provincial deputy to his partner, as some suggest, remains for the moment at the hypothesis stage. The hours and days to come will tell if this single element of the equation is the source of this double blockage.
