On Thursday afternoon, the trainer Bart De Wever invited the five Arizona parties to lunch in order to determine the course of the negotiations in the coming days and weeks, we learned from several sources.
The president of the N-VA was put back in the saddle on Monday after the mediation mission of his counterpart from the Engagés, Maxime Prévot. His initial ambition, before his resignation on August 22, was to set up a government by September 20, the date on which Belgium must in principle submit its program to Europe to clean up its finances. A deadline that cannot be met, the first report to the King being scheduled for September 23. Even the hypothesis of an agreement before the local elections of October 13 is questionable. It is considered unrealistic by the presidents of the centrist parties. And Tuesday, on Facebook, the trainer used a railway comparison that speaks volumes: the TGV that he hoped to launch has been replaced by an omnibus.
On Monday, Mr Prévot considered that it was up to the reappointed formateur to submit a new “super note”, i.e. a note devoted to reforms in tax, employment and pensions, accompanied by budget tables. The rejection of the previous version hastened the end of Mr De Wever’s first mission and it now seems impossible to find a balance on this basis. In the meantime, the president of the Engagés had recommended starting again with the thematic working groups (fight against poverty, Defence, mobility, immigration, etc.).
How different will the new “super note” be from the previous one? It will require some rewriting. However, one of the co-authors of the first document, MEP and former Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt, suggested on Monday that there were not a thousand and one ways to reform the country and clean up public finances, and that the first note was therefore not completely ruled out.
Belga – Photo : Belga
