The majority coalition in the parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, FWB, comprising the Mouvement Reformateur (MR) and Les Engagés parties, on Wednesday rejected a motion aimed at holding back a reform of the federal pension system.
The Socialist Party had proposed the motion to delay the adoption of the federal reform in the Chamber.
The reform would extend teachers’ careers by two to three years and slash their net pensions by €500 per month, Martin Casier, head of the Socialist group, warned.
Casier expressed concern that the reform would have an adverse impact in the FWB which, he said, would struggle to counter its effects on its employees.
Diana Nikolic, head of the MR group, dismissed the motion, accusing the Socialist Party of misusing procedures designed to uphold federalism and respect the jurisdictional division within Belgium.
She argued that decisions about civil servants' pensions are exclusively under federal jurisdiction, adding: “This is not the place to debate federal decisions.”
“I refuse to see the conflict-of-interest motion misused for political purposes,” she added.
The majority rejected the proposal, while the opposition Belgian Labour Party (PTB) and Ecolo supported the Socialist initiative.
The debate became heated at times, with fiery exchanges between MR and PTB representatives, which some attributed to the recent heatwave.
The political standoff is likely to continue in about ten days, as the DWB Parliament prepares to discuss and vote on a decree that includes a series of austerity measures for the Federation.
