Resignation of Van Quickenborne: a Vivaldi who seeks to save his skin

2023-10-20 20:31:08

Barring new developments or unexpected outbursts, the resignation of Vincent Van Quickenborne should help save Vivaldi.

The opposition does not mince its words, while the reactions of Vivaldi’s partners to the resignation of Vincent Van Quickenborne are intended to be rather positive. “Respect”, “courage”, “act which honors him”, the Vivaldi parties are standing together for the moment. “We will have to understand why justice did not respond to the request for extradition of this terrorist, but we must not draw conclusions regarding the future of Vivaldi,” argues Deputy Prime Minister Ecolo Georges Gilkinet . “One of the departments that has been refinanced the most by this government has been that of the Department of Justice, even if we have not completed the project.”

The fact remains that there were deaths of men, while Tunisia had requested, more than a year ago, the extradition of the author of the attack Monday evening. The pressure is likely to increase in the hours and days to come on Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V)which has highlighted in recent days the difficulties in carrying out an effective return policy, without hesitating to designate Tunisia… “It’s a real boomerang for the government”, notes political scientist Pascal Delwit, of the ULB. Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) also risks being put in the hot seat. And Belgium, already regularly pointed out as a failed state in the face of terrorismwill not grow out of it.

But despite the emotion that the revelation of this major failure of justice will inevitably arouse, political analysts are not betting, at this stage, on a fall of the De Croo governmentand even less on early elections.

A valve

“This resignation makes it possible to avoid the resignation of a friend of Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Prime Minister himself“, reacts Jean Faniel, the general director of Crisp. “It’s more honorable than jumping on le ‘pipigate’. And it’s a way of positioning l’Open VLD as a party that assumes its responsibilities policieseven if there is no personal fault, as Johan Vande Lanotte and Stefaan De Clerck did during Marc Dutroux’s escape.”


“A fall of the government over an attack and asylum request would be the perfect agenda for Vlaams Belang.”

Pascal Delwit

Political scientist

The main difficulty might be, for Open VLD, to find a credible replacement to Vincent Van Quickenborne, a few months before the elections. Weakened, the Open VLD has already had its Secretary of State for the Budget resign Eva De Bleeker for a mistake in an Excel file. Polls predict him a disastrous electoral score.

But barring any new major revelations or unforeseen outbursts, we can imagine that the coalition parties will close ranks. “A fall of the government on an attack and asylum request case would be the perfect diary for Vlaams Belang. I don’t see which party, within Vivaldi, would want such a scenario, especially since the socio-economic context should improve,” argues Pascal Delwit.

“And even if there were to be contagion to other ministerial officials, such as the Interior and perhaps Migration, we will slowly get closer to what happened in 2018, with a withdrawal of the N -VA at the beginning of December and not many people demanding early electionsincluding in opposition”, analyzes Jean Faniel.

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