There is little if any movement towards the formation of a new regional government in the Brussels-Capital Region. While the Francophone parties in the capital have already formed a majority for their side of the coalition, the result of the elections on 9 June has meant that it is proving very difficult for the Flemish parties to form a majority on their side. In Brussels a majority must be formed on each side of the linguistic devide before coalition talks proper can get under way and a new regional government can be formed.
Francophone parties in Brussels becoming impatient with Flemish parties' coalition impasse
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With the woman in charge of forming a coalition of Dutch-speakers Elke Van den Brandt (Flemish green) having made little or no progress during the past three months, the Francophone parties are becoming impatient. The Francophone liberals, socialists and centrists are turning up the heat and although there is still no new government they are using their numerical strength to push measures through the regional parliament without a Flemish majority. There are 72 Francophone regional MPs of which three parties that will be in the new coalition have 44. There 17 Dutch-speaking regional MPs.
The Francophone parties are also becoming more abrasive in their communication regarding the current political impasse. The leader of the Francophone socialists in Brussels Ahmed Laaouej (photo below) told the commercial broadcaster RTL that “We can’t continue to go on like this. The institutions are being blocked by the lack of a majority on the side of the Dutch-speakers. But with all respect to them they are a minority in Brussels”
The man in charge of forming a coalition among the Francophone parties, the liberal David Leisterh doesn’t go quite as far Mr Laouej. Mr Leisterh now suggests that the Flemish nationalist (2 seats) form a majority coalition with the Flemish greens (4 seats), Flemish liberals (2 seats) and Flemish socialists (2 seats). “Only they remain”. However, the problem is that there are only three ministerial posts and there would be 4 parties in the coalition.
In an interview with VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’, Mr Leisterh said that he doesn’t rate the chances of the only two other options (a coalition that includes Team Foaud Ahidar or the Flemish Christian democrats) very highly.
"We need serious people to address the serious problems that Brussels has”. Mr Leisterh adds that this doesn’t include Fouad Ahidar. "It is not an option for us to govern with him and apparently CD&V”
"I know that the option of N-VA isn’t easy for everyone but were are now in September”. He hopes that a new coalition can be formed before the local elections although he admits that this hope is "optimistic and naive”.