As expected, Filip, King of Belgians, has given formateur Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist/N-VA) a further two weeks to work on the building of a new federal government coalition. Mr De Wever reports back to the king on 10 December.
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King Filip hands formateur Bart De Wever a further two weeks to construct a new Belgian government
Colin Clapson
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In recent days Flemish nationalist N-VA, Christian democrat CD&V and socialist Vooruit and Francophone liberal MR and centrist Les Engagés have been involved in talks on the formation of a new federal government.
‘The king has asked Mr De Wever to continue his work to form a new federal government and bring his efforts to a successful conclusion as soon as possible,’ the palace announced in a press release shortly after the formateur met with the king at 12:30 CET.
Mr Bart De Wever, who arrived at the palace in the pouring rain, is keen to get on with the job of forming a new government following the 9 June poll.
Caretaker government meets to decide budget
The so-called Arizona parties have been meeting all last week. The atmosphere was reportedly good and even N-VA negotiators are optimistic about the outcome. Many topics have been discussed. Numerous decisions have been taken. Social economic reforms and the budget, issues that earlier dogged progress, have not been discussed yet but land on the negotiating table on Wednesday.
It's unclear when the new government can be installed and whether that will be in time to get its new budget voted in parliament. To ensure continuity Mr De Croo’s caretaker government is meeting tonight to discuss a provisional monthly budget for the first months of next year. It will be a repeat of this year’s budget with no extra expenditure or revenue and can be annulled by the new government when it arrives.