2023-09-14 08:02:00
On July 6, the Minister of Higher Education Valérie Glatigny created a surprise by announcing her resignation for health reasons. It was Françoise Bertieaux, former deputy and alderman, who had nevertheless left the political arena four years earlier who was appointed to replace her. She gave us her first exclusive interview with La Libre Belgique.
Why did you agree to return to politics?
“Because we never do it once more! I never imagined that I would return to politics. I loved my job: I spent 20 years in parliament and 30 in the municipality and I thought it was good like that. I had started another life far from politics. I didn’t give any public expression for four years because for me, when you leave, you don’t act like a mother-in-law and you don’t come back annoy those who work. But when Georges-Louis Bouchez asked me to go there, especially on these matters, I told myself that I had to be crazy not to accept.”
How did the handover with Valérie Glatigny go?
“Magnificently good. She was super explanatory for each of the files. She didn’t let me go alone without a parachute. She took the time to explain to me the progress of the files, the difficulties… I kept his whole team and I happened to call him.”
How is she ?
“She’s fine. She’s recovering but she’s fine.”
Do you plan to stay in politics at the end of the legislature?
“My career is behind me. I am doing an interim job during the government. Afterwards, it’s time for young people! I have committed to appearing on the MR lists for the elections. I will do what I can to help my party win the elections and to return to government but I have no other project or vision for the future.”
We remember you in opposition. Will it be a problem for you to have to defend ideas that you criticized at the time?
“I am sincere. My brain works in the same way as before. But I am capable of loyalty and when you are in a government, you are loyal. There are expressions where I will be reserved but for the party program I would say, ‘there, we have to go further’. A good example is the registration decree. Since 2007 we have made a huge mistake. The Arena decree crystallized everything regarding this transition from primary to secondary education. The damage is immeasurable. Caroline Désir wanted to make an improvement but the algorithm of the decree means that when you pull a string, it makes a knot on the other side. Loyally, I pay tribute to what she did but we will have to go further in the next legislature.”
By deleting everything?
“In the first stage, we will stop playing with the ball of wool. The best way is to crush it. But given the damage, we can no longer have nothing. There are people who have moved because of this decree! There are good things that must be kept: the single form and the priorities but we must put mechanisms in place to give real meaning to the common core.”
The reform of study allowances caused a lot of noise this summer. Where is she?
“The problem is that the government note leaked before our discussions even began. What I want is to land what Valérie Glatigny had prepared, with its two improvements: a greater number of beneficiaries and an allowance for koter students. Six million euros are on the table. It would be a shame if they did not go to the students.”
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