On Monday, trainer Bart De Wever submitted his resignation to the King, after Vooruit refused to enter into negotiations if a socio-economic note with other accents was not submitted. The sovereign is holding his decision under advisement and has granted the president of the N-VA a week to conduct consultations. Since then, an idea has been circulating, that of replacing the socialists of Vooruit with the liberals of the Open VLD.
This coalition would have a majority of just one seat in the House, or 76 out of 150. In addition, it would not have a majority in the Dutch language group. The Flemish liberals suffered a heavy defeat in the elections of June 9 and the party of the outgoing Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, was destined for an opposition cure. But the new president Eva De Bleeker, in place since August, has opened the door ajar.
For his part, Egbert Lachaert, former president of the party, believes that a coalition with the Flemish socialists is the most logical at the federal level, in relation to the results of the June 9 elections. He also sets a prerequisite: a “serious and clear” request must be made to Open VLD for his party to possibly consider joining a coalition.
“We cannot formally close the door, because we never know what will happen. If the rating agencies downgrade our country’s rating, if the budget continues to derail and if Europe calls us back order, we will have to discuss constructively. I don’t know what the demand is. Let’s first see what these four parties (N-VA, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés) really want. offer us”, concluded Egbert Lachaert at the VRT microphone.
Belgium
