Formateur Bart De Wever will meet with King Philippe on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., according to a statement issued by the Palace on Monday evening.
A consultation was held on Monday evening between the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA), Mouvement Réformateur (MR), Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V), and Les Engagés parties, various media outlets reported. However, Vooruit and Open VLD did not attend.
Last week, it was reported that De Wever had asked the Flemish liberals to join the negotiations after Vooruit indicated that the incoming coalition’s socio-economic plans were insufficient.
In recent days, there have been discreet contacts between the parties. Before the weekend, both the talks with Vooruit and the discussions with the Flemish liberals continued to be a work in progress.
If Vooruit does not budge, the proposed coalition is at least temporarily dead. However, if Open VLD is to be included, the centrist parties must be willing to cooperate.
The liberals are not actively seeking participation but are prepared to take up their responsibility, if necessary, to prevent the budget from derailing.
