Jean-Luc Crucke affirmed on Wednesday morning that Les Engagés party will not abandon a crucial part of their programme: maintaining and increasing the growth standard of the healthcare budget.
This position pits the centrist party to another election winner in the French-speaking part of the country, MR. A key divergence, which could complicate Federal Government formation negotiations, given that Flemish nationalists N-VA align with MR on this issue.
Particularly, as three other possible partners coalition partners are aligned with Les Engages.
"CD&V and Vooruit are saying the same thing as us," retorted Jean-Luc Crucke on LN24’s Wednesday morning show. He added that if his, Vooruit and CD&V, are needed for the coalition, and he believes that when three parties are aligned on health issues, their voice should be heard.
Crucke is a former Walloon Finance Minister from when he was still part of MR. He joined Les Engagés in 2023. On Wednesday, he recalled that he is agrees with the idea of having a "serious budget", something both MR and N-VA have campaigned on, in a dig at the public spending of the previous government.
However, Crucke stressed that "investing in health is the best economy that you can make for the future. It allows for better prevention, and having more effective tools and medicines."
The Hainaut representative added: "Don’t think that we are going to close our eyes to what is a framework for the Engagés," concluded the representative elected in Hainaut.
