The liberal Flemish party Open VLD has announced it will undergo a name change after a bad election year for the party which led the outgoing Belgian Government.
Party leader Eva De Bleeker said Open VLD wants to "draw a line under the past" at the party's New Year reception on Monday evening. The party will therefore hold a "foundational congress" in September, where it will regroup and choose a new name.
"2024 was not an easy year for us," said De Bleeker. When outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and his party fell below the 10% threshold during federal elections on 9 June, president Tom Ongena and the entire party leadership resigned.
This is when De Bleeker stepped in. The previous State Secretary for the Budget noted that local elections yielded "good results" and has initiated the renewal process since then.
Liberals must 'stand firm'
"We leave behind the era of eternal compromises," she said. "Now is the time for liberals who stand firm, adhere to their principles and consistently defend the will of the people."
The liberal leader promised firm opposition to the Flemish government, where liberals have been replaced by socialists. She criticised the government for "spending more than it can afford and raising taxes on those who work, save and undertake." Even with these new taxes, "the budget is derailing," she added.
At the federal level, where seven months of negotiations have not yet produced a new government, De Bleeker was critical of Conner Rousseau, the leader of the Flemish socialist party Vooruit. According to De Bleeker, Rousseau has turned Bart De Wever’s "initially promising" socioeconomic 'supernote' into "a leftist tax note".
