The two politicians whose task it is to try and get talks that will lead to the formation of a new regional coalition government in Brussels, Elke Van den Brandt (Flemish green) and Christophe De Beukelaer (Francophone centrist), have reported the conclusions they have drawn from talks with all parties (with the exception of the far-right Vlaams Belang) that are represented in the Brussels Regional Parliament.
Brussels “Informateurs” propose 7-party coalition that excludes the Flemish nationalist party N-VA
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Ms Van den Brandt en Mr De Beukelaer propose the formation of a 7-party coalition consisting of the Francophone liberals, socialists and centrists and the Flemish greens, liberal, socialists and Christian democrats.
If their recommendations become reality it would mean that the Flemish nationalist party N-VA would be excluded from the new coalition government, despite the Dutch-speaking parties having previously reached an agreement for a coalition made up of the greens, liberals, socialists and Flemish nationalists for their half of the regional government.
In Brussels the two language groups first form a coalition among themselves before coming together to form a regional government. Although the Francophone liberals, socialists and centrists had initially reached an agreement to form the Francophone side of the regional government, the socialists pulled out when the Dutch-speaking parties formed a coalition including N-VA.
The “Informateurs’” conclusions are just a suggestion though and more than 9 months after the election there is still no regional government. The 7 parties will have the weekend to consider the proposal put forward by Ms Van den Brandt and Mr De Beukelaer.
Will the liberals drop the nationalists?
It is still unclear whether the Flemish liberals (Open VLD) will be prepared to form a new Brussels regional government that does not include N-VA. On Friday morning the party’s chief negotiator in Brussels Frédéric De Gucht said in a radio interview that he would not enter into a regional government that did not include the Flemish nationalists.
The parties will be invited to a plenary meeting on Monday afternoon. This will have given them time to discuss the proposal at the weekly meeting of their respective parties’ executive committees.