Right-wing Flemish party N-VA has appointed former regional minister Philippe Muyters as Flemish parliamentary leader, at least until the new government is formed.
At 62, Muyters has a wealth of experience in Flemish politics, having served as a minister for a decade from 2009 to 2019. He previously held a variety of portfolios, including Budget, Labour and Sports. He continued to focus on budgetary and sporting matters as an MP during the last mandate.
His formal appointment as parliamentary leader will take place next Tuesday.
Following a triple ballot on 9 June, each Belgian government formation process (separate processes for the federal government and regional governments) are led by "formators" or "informators" appointed by the King. In the Flemish case, this is Matthias Diependaele (N-VA). On Friday, Diependaele said formal negotiations would begin the following week.
The resulting coalition looks to be made up of N-VA, centre-right CD&V and socialist party Vooruit. Opinions differ about how long it might take to hammer out an agreement, but the time taken to start formal talks was much swifter this time round: just ten days compared to several months in 2019.
