Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has urged Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever to unite the centre-right parties in Flanders and Wallonia without a state reform.
Speaking on VTM Nieuws last Sunday (19 May), De Wever expressed hopes of establishing a mini federal cabinet following the 9 June elections. This cabinet would negotiate the issue of confederalism and implement socio-economic reforms.
On Sunday 26 May, De Wever and De Croo spoke on the private Flemish channel Het Conclaaf. The N-VA president took the opportunity to again criticise the policies implemented in the last four years by De Croo's Vivaldi government coalition.
But rather than repel De Wever's rebukes, De Croo called on the Antwerp Mayor to unite the centre-right parties in Flanders with the francophone liberals MR and Les Engagés. The francophone centrist party MR is gaining ground in pre-election polls. The Prime Minister told De Wever that he should stop discussions with the PS about community reforms and instead focus on a new alliance.
But De Wever was not of the same mind and expressed hopes that his party will be a key power broker after the vote, capable of pushing for reforms, including that of the State.
Interestingly, De Croo criticised the performance of N-VA ministers Ben Weyts (Education) and Zuhal Demir (Environment) in the Flemish government. He argued that these are the areas presenting the biggest challenges and have been poorly managed by Weyts and Demir – criticisms that were (predictably) denied by De Wever.
