The Flemish government is in open crisis. For the first time since its existence, the September declaration before parliament had to be postponed. The three partners N-VA, CD&V and VLD no longer manage to get along. It is the CD&V which is at the origin of the blockage.
All-in on September 26
Yes and so this official, it is not only in the federal government that we take our time to divide despite the emergencies.
Open crises within the Flemish government are rather rare. And when there are, they are very commented on because the N-VA which holds this government always sends the message that what the Flemish government does, it does it better than the federal government, which only argues. Over there everything is old and everything is wild whereas Flanders is a free ocean without fences. And so when there is a testicle in the soup, all you can see is that.
This is all the more remarkable as the Flemish government is pressed from all sides to come to the aid of companies and individuals in the face of the energy crisis. To differentiate himself from the federal cacophony, Jan Jambon had promised a strong and orderly response on September 26. We were going to see the difference with these destitute Walloons and this negligent federal government. And then finally, it blocks.
Met Sammy
The new boss of the CD&V is fed up with his party dropping its pants, this expression is his. The CD&V wants family allowances, as in Brussels and Wallonia, to be indexed to the health index. In Flanders they are increased at a fixed rate, once a year. In this case 2%, which is much less than inflation. CD&V therefore requires indexing. Sammy Madhi explains that the CD&V has principles, so he sets a red line. He contrasts with Wouter Beke. Before his resignation, the Minister of Social Affairs accepted fairly easily the clear cuts in his budget.
He went to explain on the VTM sets yesterday why the September declaration was postponed. He was the only politician to speak. He put his balls on the table. He assumes the crisis Sammy Madhi, it is his strategy. The CD&V is at 8% in the polls. He is close to extinction. In Wounded Beast, the new president chooses to harden his positions.
It was he who had already given the order to Annelise Verlinden, the Minister of the Interior, to seek the opinion of the nuclear control agency urgently a few days before the closure of Doel. In vain, it was stirring air. But this request, without consultation with its partners, was very badly taken by several partners and by the Prime Minister. It doesn’t matter, Sammy Madhi must make his party exist.
To exist
Several Flemish media wonder how far this crisis can go? Some attribute to the CD&V the desire to leave the government. Because he has in front of him other files on which he is very exposed. In particular the Ventilus high-voltage line project which crosses many municipalities run by CD&Vs and the nitrogen issue in agriculture which horrifies the Boerenbond, historically linked to CD&Vs.
But itThis scenario is not the most likely. Removing the plug in the midst of an energy crisis, without pun intended, risks throwing a chill. It might also lead to a baronial war within the party.
Sammy Madhi’s strategy is understandable. The CD&V has nothing more to lose. With what the polls are predicting, the CD&V will no longer be essential in 2024. The preferred partner of the N-VA in the future will certainly be Conner Rousseau’s Vooruit, which is making a real comeback in the polls.
But this rise of the Flemish socialists is also the sign that there is a space in the center left while the center right and the right are saturated. By polarizing around family and social allowances, Sammy Madhi also chooses a form of refocusing. Refocusing on the DNA of the party (families), refocusing on the center left too.
The next few months will tell if this tactical refocusing is confirmed, particularly in federal files such as tax reform and the budget. But it is almost certain that itach month that passes will make the CD&V more nervous.
