Ans Persoons is therefore the chief negotiator of Vooruit, currently Secretary of State in charge of town planning and heritage within the outgoing government of Rudi Vervoort. Head of the list of Dutch-speaking socialists in the last elections, his party won two seats in the Dutch-speaking college, a decline compared to the previous elections. She herself obtained 2,378 preference votes. However, with two seats, Vooruit is one of the parties that it seems difficult to do without in the Dutch-speaking constituency. And Ans Persoons, like Pascal Smet before her, who held the same position, a certain ability to deliver impactful messages…sometimes at times when you no longer expect it.
For Ans Persoons, therefore, the idea of knocking on Écolo’s door is not one: “ it was written in the stars ”, she said. “Écolo had already said six months ago that he would opt for the opposition. For anyone who follows French-speaking politics at all, it was clear that this path was not realistic. So we lost three more weeks. »
The observation is scathing. We can read there a criticism of the strategy pursued by David Leisterh, who is now seeking to find majority partners other than the Socialist Party. According to Ans Persoons – although it should be remembered that she is a socialist, even if she is Dutch-speaking – this would not be the right direction. And above all, she suggests that David Leisterh is perhaps not not the right person for the right job at this stage of the negotiation.
« A trainer must have in-depth discussions with everyone to understand the sensitivities of all parties. You will thus understand why the N-VA focuses a lot on institutions, why the N-VA is difficult for the PS, or why the Open VLD likes to pretend that it has not had the Minister of the Budget during the 25 recent years…”
“Maybe it’s time that someone else takes on this role for a while. For example, a mediator a little further away from the parties. »
Beyond the attack against the trainer, we note that Ans Persoons is mainly in favor of a reopening of the game on the Dutch-speaking side. This is the first time we’ve heard it. The four-way agreement between Groen, Vooruit, Open VLD and N-VA, often presented as concrete on the Dutch-speaking side, would therefore not be. “ With only a Dutch-speaking majority, we are nothing. We must have a government, and for that we must talk to all parties. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one still talking to everyone. » Even the trail of the government commissioner in charge of the budget no longer seems to find favor in his eyes: “ Dutch speakers are already over-represented in parliament and government. Creating a new position for them is therefore delicate: I wonder if it is the best solution. » Creating a post of Secretary of State would therefore be, according to her, a better option: “ It’s more transparent, and a secretary of state is responsible to Parliament, which is not the case for a government commissioner. »
This interview is important because it completely reopens the game. What Ans Persoons suggests is therefore that David Leisterh gives way to a mediator, who would start from a blank page and in turn try to seduce the CD&V with a post of Secretary of State. According to my information, this is not the first time that the idea of a fourth Secretary of State has been on the table. Ans Persoons already proposed it during the negotiations, but the liberal family was opposed to it. Years Persons, having failed to impose his solution through the door, is now trying to go through the window.
If there is one person who needs to rub their hands this morning, it is Ahmed Laaouej. The Dutch-speaking front, which made the N-VA completely unavoidable for a month, which had led to the PS’s exit from the negotiations and led to a total blockage, has just collapsed with the Ans Persoons interview. The Brussels negotiations are returning to square one.
Fabrice Grosfilley
