“It is in the genes of the Flemings to work as much as possible. Why wait so long before tasting happiness, many Walloons wonder. Walloons prefer to enjoy life. Is it so bad?”, wondered the president of the PS, Paul Magnette, in an interview with Dag Allemaal. If the socialist leader said he was “comfortable” with the cliché of the lazy Walloon, the same is not true of many of his French-speaking colleagues, who strongly castigated his remarks.
“Put the Belgians of the North and the South once morest each other, and forget in passing the very many Walloons and Brussels residents for whom work is a source of personal fulfillment and pride: for a vision of the future of the country, we will go back !”, protested the Minister of Higher Education of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Georges-Louis Bouchez regretted for his part that the PS once once more taxed the French-speaking “profiteer”. “The French speaker wants to work, which the PS prevents him from doing”, continued the liberal leader.
Recalling that the mayor of Charleroi had declared himself candidate Prime Minister, Mathieu Bihet (MR) was in turn surprised by the content of the socialist’s remarks. “He manages to insult everyone, especially people who work, in a caricature that would make the most anti-Belgian, anti-French speaker in the area blush,” vilified the liberal on Twitter.
On the side of the Engagés, we also deplored the image that Paul Magnette gave of Wallonia. A “lamentable caricature”, estimated Catherine Fonck.
“There must be something that escapes me in the promotional strategy of those who see themselves as Prime Minister,” added the president of DéFi, François De Smet.
For Raoul Hedebouw, the attitude of the socialist recalls that of the leader of the N-VA, Bart De Wever, customary “community clichés”. “Paul Magnette would do better to defend the working class of the whole country rather than pitting the regions once morest each other,” said Mr. Hedebouw.
