Mouvement réformateur (MR) leader Charles Michel warned on Tuesday that exclusions between parties could make the country ungovernable. His warning came in the wake of statements by the leaders of various political parties ruling out any alliance with the former co-ruling Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA).
Ecolo co-president Jean-Marc Nollet said on Bel-RTL on Tuesday morning that there was “no compromise possible” between his party and the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA). Centre démocrate humaniste (cdH) leader Maxime Prévot announced in L’Echo that “in no event” did cdH wish to contribute to establishing a government with the N-VA. For its part, the Parti socialiste (PS) noted at the weekend that “once and for all, it will be the PS without the N-VA or the N-VA without the PS”.
During a campaign visit with Open Vld party to the centre of Brussels, Michel said on Tuesday: “What counts is the project of a stable government that gives the capacity to pursue economic and social reforms in the country.”
“What counts is not exclusion against one partner or other, but knowing with which partner, come 27 May, you can implement a programme corresponding to the commitments of Open Vld and the MR,” said the outgoing Prime Minister. “By imposing exclusions, the country will be made ungovernable and we’ll again have 541 days of crisis.”
Open Vld president Gwendolyne Rutten agreed, although she recalled the liberals’ rejection of extremist parties.
“We do not want to go towards blockages. We have already lost a year in 2019, we cannot lose time in 2020,” she said, pointing to the fact that the MR-CD&V-Open Vld coalition had been limited to taking care of everyday business since the withdrawal of the N-VA from the Federal Government.
The Brussels Times
