Belgium’s Liberals have had a crisis-filled October on both sides of the linguistic divide, with a terrorist attack and questions over future leadership fuelling division at a time when Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has to lead Belgium into national and European elections, not to mention the upcoming six-month EU presidency stint.
Members of Belgium’s seven-party coalition, the two liberal parties, which govern alongside the Walloon and Flemish Socialists, the Greens and the Flemish Christian Democrats at the national level, will be facing opposition nationalist parties NVA, Vlaams Belang and the Walloon Communist Party (PTB) which have been doing well in recent polls by RTBF, Kantar, and Grand Baromètre politique.
On the side of the Liberals, divisions have emerged in the French-speaking Mouvement Réformateur as questions about the party’s future leadership have been raised by the imminent departure of leader Georges-Louis Bouchez at the end of November.
Similar tensions have emerged on the Flemish-speaking side, particularly after a small clique of party members decided to replace the now-former Federal Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD), who resigned after one of his magistrates made a mistake in connection with the terrorist attack in Brussels on 16 October – much to the frustration of those who were not involved in the decision.
“These are difficult days for the Open VLD. We are in the process of renewing the party, and it is a path strewn with pitfalls,” De Croo told VRT after many party members voiced their frustration about the situation.
“We are a party where the debate is strong, which is the essence of a liberal party. Debate contributes to a strong and robust society,” he added.
(Claire Lemaire | Euractiv.com)
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