Faced with a beleaguered population, the government is playing its credibility.
Could the purchasing power crisis spell the end of the Vivaldi? In view of the points of tension that are accumulating, rumors are circulating that trust would be broken between the partners of the federal government and that we might be heading for an early election.
MP Kristof Calvo (Groen), whose party placed two ministers in the coalition, recently asked to review the government agreement. Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) tried, with his royal decree to ban advertisements for games of chance, to keep French-speaking liberals out of the decision-making process. Secretary of State Sammy Mahdi for his part torpedoed the federal balance sheet, judging that the government should do much more.
