As expected Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever has been reappointed as formateur. He has the job of concluding a coalition agreement with parties that possess a majority in the federal parliament with a view to forming the next Belgian government. King Filip reappointed Mr De Wever this morning.
Royal mediator Maxime Prévot of the Francophone centrist Les Engagés was expected at the palace at 10:15 to discuss with King Filip what should happen next in the federal government formation process.
Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever (N-VA) was widely expected to be reappointed as formateur.
‘Based on the mediator's findings, the King has appointed Mr Bart De Wever as formateur with a view to an early continuation of negotiations between the five potential partners for a future coalition. Mr De Wever accepted the assignment during a telephone call with the King and will report back on 23 September’ an announcement from the palace reads.
The five Arizona parties, the Flemish nationalists, socialists and Christian democrats and the Francophone liberals and centrists of Les Engagés have been holding talks in recent days after earlier negotiations broke down on a Francophone liberal veto on the introduction of a capital gains tax on shares. Mediation efforts by Maxime Prévot seem to have been met with success.
The role of Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) as mediator is over. He says he is ‘delighted with the success of his mission.’
According to the Francophone centrist, Flemish nationalist N-VA, Flemish socialist Vooruit, Francophone liberal MR, Flemish Christian democrat CD&V and Francophone centrist Les Engagés are still convinced that they can form a government. ‘All of the parties have confirmed their determination to implement major reforms with structural consequences, which should put Belgium back on a track towards prosperity and well-being for its people and economy.’
Mr Prévot now passes the baton to Mr De Wever, who becomes federal formateur again after a 10-day break. ‘It is now up to the Formateur to determine the method and timetable for the resumption of negotiations,’ Mr Prévot added.
The situation is complicated by the upcoming municipal elections on 13 October. The parties discussed how to proceed. There is talk of putting the socio-economic issues on the backburner till after the local elections. First, agreements could be negotiated on topics such as defence or migration.
Flemish socialist Vooruit, the only left-leaning party in Arizona, also wanted an assurance Mr De Wever's controversial socio-economic paper would no longer serve as a basis for further negotiations. ‘There were some things in there that Vooruit really struggled with, so that would create too much discussion’ says VRT’s Anne Vanrenterghem.