The name Open VLD is generally felt as a burden, as a slur, as a swear word. The party wants to get rid of it as quickly as possible. During the local elections, almost all liberal departments stood up under a different name. De Bleeker – who had already indicated that a new name would be used when she was elected chairman in August – announced at the party’s New Year’s reception on Monday evening that there will be a “foundation conference” of a new liberal party in mid-September.
The chairman spoke with many party members in recent weeks. No one questions the existence of a liberal party. “It will be up to the liberals to be the voice of the citizen who calls clearly and loudly for more freedom,” De Bleeker exclaimed in the Brussels concert hall La Madeleine, where the Flemish liberals gathered for the New Year’s reception. “There are enormous opportunities ahead of us. It is up to me as your chairman, but actually up to all of us together, to seize that opportunity.”
“2024 was not an easy year,” De Bleeker said. On June 9, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s party dropped below 10 percent, after which chairman Tom Ongena and the entire party board resigned. Yet the party did not achieve a bad result in the local elections, proving to the chairman that the June wake-up call had had an effect. The president criticized federal negotiators for “going in circles for months” and lacking “the courage” to tackle the “urgent challenges.” She aimed her arrows at Vooruit chairman Conner Rousseau, among others. It has eroded the “initially promising” socio-economic super memo from formateur Bart De Wever “into a left-wing tax letter”.
The new Flemish government also suffered from it. “Even with new taxes, she is completely derailing her budget.” The chairwoman promised fierce opposition to that government, where the liberals have been exchanged for the socialists. That government “spends more than it can and increases taxes for everyone who works, saves and does business,” she says.
“The Flemish groundwater is bluer than ever,” she concluded. Working groups will prepare the establishment of the new party with a new name. Party “X” already honors the traditional liberal values: more freedom, fewer taxes, a leaner government and less bureaucracy. Those who work hard should be rewarded. A “new story” will accompany those values. “We are leaving the time of eternal compromise behind us.” What the “new liberal party” that De Bleeker wants to establish will look like will become clear at a foundation conference that will take place from September 12 to 14. (Read more below the photo)
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-“There is a real chance that De Croo will remain a member of parliament”
According to De Bleeker, there is a “real chance” that outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo will remain a Member of Parliament after the premiership, “since he has been elected”. “I can’t look into his head, but he has been elected to parliament. If the (new, ed.) government is formed, he will become a member of parliament and will help defend liberal values from parliament.”
De Croo was re-elected to parliament on June 9 from the East Flemish parliamentary list. He is currently Prime Minister, but once the new federal government takes office, he will become a Member of Parliament. However, it is still not clear whether the outgoing Prime Minister really plans to remain in Parliament. He can also choose to focus entirely on the mayoralty of Brakel and leave his seat to the first successor in East Flanders.
There would immediately be a new face in the parliamentary group. A frequently heard criticism after the major election defeat of June 9 is that the Liberals have not put enough fresh blood at the top of the electoral lists, which means that there is little new talent in the Flemish and federal factions.
