The Flemish socialist party Vooruit has asked the man leading the negotiations on the formation of a new federal government, the Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever, to draft a new text for the coalition negotiations and to revise the budgetary table that he has put before parties.
The negotiations for a new federal government have so far revolved around “Formateur” Bart De Wever's so-called “Super memorandum”, the deails of which were leaked to the media recently. The memorandum has served as the basis for negotiations between the Flemish nationalists, socialists and Christian democrats and the Francophone liberals and centrists.
Following the local elections the talks were to haver got back into full swing. Now the Flemish socialist party Vooruit is asking Mr De Wever to revise his “super memorandum” and the budgetary table he had also drafted. The leader of the Flemish socialists Conner Rousseau says that the contents of the latest version of the new memorandum are the same as the draft tabled by Mr De Wever in the summer.
Rousseau feels that negotiations have been going round in circles for months. ‘It is important to go all out now’.
According to the Socialists, “there is no point in wasting time with meetings on partial texts”. Mr De Wever did change the wording of his memorandum before the negotiations resumed but this does not appear to be enough for the Socialists. The feel that the new draft is too similar to version that was on the table last summer.
Moreover, the Socialists now want to look at the how the financial burden is shared and “the burden must be shared fairly between all”, Mr Rousseau said. “All our efforts must now go first and foremost to drafting the budgetary framework within which negotiations can be conducted. That is the only way to reach a coalition agreement”.
Rousseau says that his party wants to make efforts on to achieve this and that the Flemish socialists do want the new government to be made up of the parties currently around the negotiating table.
“Formateur” Bart De Wever met with the leaders of the Francophone liberals, the Francophone centrists, the Flemish socialists and the Flemish Christian democrats on Thursday afternoon. It was the second time he had met with the party leaders since the local elections.
The Flemish nationalist federal MP Theo Francken told VRT News that it had been the intention to continue the negotiations during next week’s half-term break and to move things up a gear. “The intention is to continue next week with working parties where the final substantive points will be discussed per sub-theme,” Mr Francken said. However, this was before the socialists demanded a new memorandum.