Ludivine Donder defended himself by explaining that her decision reflected his “Understanding the concerns of military personnel “. The Minister also said she received a letter from the Prime Minister, to which she will respond “of course “.
A two -page letter
The content of this letter, which we were able to consult, clearly goes in the direction of anger expressed by the deputies in the House. This two -page letter was sent on Tuesday January 21. Like his David Clarinval David Prime Minister (MR) raised him in our pages, Alexander de Croo recalls that the decision was taken alone, without consultation with the other ministers. The Prime Minister discovered it “via social networks “. And he asks to remove it shortly.
Ludivine Dedonder responds dryly to Theo Francken whom she accuses of “macho and sexist”: “Too many testosterone bousille” neurons “
“You will understand my astonishment in the face of this measure, especially since no concrete reason seems to justify such an exemption. I refer, for example, to the federal public administration, where no service exemption is provided for this day, for lack of necessity “.
But the head of government goes further. He refers to the work, the labor regulations which supervise the military function. The work “Clearly stipulates that in the event of an announced action, no service exemption can be granted if soldiers may encounter difficulties in joining their workplace. If you consider that the exemption is nevertheless justified, this would be in contradiction with the work. “
Neither reason nor justification
The first adds that this “Dissense creates legal insecurity for the military” and a cost for the state. The MR advanced the figure of 5 million euros on Thursday. “There is no reason or justification for this exemption, and even less emergency linked to the fundamental interests of the nation. […] An exemption on such a scale generates a significant budgetary impact, the wages of the military being maintained despite the lack of work. “
-But above all, Alexander de Croo regrets the political instrumentalization of the defense which creates the conditions of a “State affair”to use the words of Ludivine Donder. “”No decision having an important political scope and which may give rise to criticisms on the part of the Parliament should be taken. The political scope of this exemption is undeniable, given its coincidence with the announced union demonstration “, regrets the chief of the Vivaldi.
Theo Francken became the PS black beast
Based on all these elements, the Prime Minister “expressly requests to withdraw this possibility of service exemption “.
Thursday, the MR launched an ultimatum to the minister. “We give the minister 24 hours to withdraw her exemption or to withdraw from the government.”
The Minister has not yet officially communicated since.
