2023-10-01 09:16:00
Liberal elected officials will be happy: this Monday, the MR convened the meeting of its extended office. This internal body is made up of President Georges-Louis Bouchez, ministers, heads of parliamentary groups, a few “wise men”, presidents of provincial federations. Since the summer, this type of meeting had been systematically postponed, which made some people cringe. We know that the question of extending Bouchez’s mandate beyond the next elections – this mandate ends in principle in November – is occupying the minds of the Blues. However, at this stage, there is still no white smoke escaping from the offices on Avenue de la Toison d’or – where the party HQ is located.
The retention of Georges-Louis Bouchez is widely supported internally. Very few of them want to cause a period of unrest by calling internal elections a few months before the June and October 2024 polls. But the official decision is still awaited. It is said in particular that some ministers already in place would like to have a guarantee from their president that they will be reappointed in future governments (provided that the MR is still in power). Georges-Louis Bouchez likes to pull rabbits out of his hat when it comes to choosing the personalities who will sit on behalf of the MR in the executives and this worries certain representatives of the inner circle.
“Hard to swallow”, “It’s humiliating”: the designation of Hadja Lahbib causes a shock wave in the MR
“I think it will succeed”
The phones will undoubtedly heat up this weekend in order to be able to ensure an intra-liberal agreement and announce, perhaps this Monday, the extension of the mandate of Georges-Louis Bouchez to the main executives of the MR. “I think it will succeed,” confides a liberal heavyweight. The party, we hear, must imperatively clarify this presidential question because there is no shortage of challenges while recent polls (Le Soir/RTL) show the good health of the Engagés, the movement of Maxime Prévot.
“Regardless of the question relating to Georges-Louis, things are happening in the French-speaking political landscape and we are not talking regarding it (Les Engagés are increasing the number of announcements of joining their lists, Editor’s note), deplores an MR representative. It’s not dramatic, Les Engagés perhaps left a little early in the campaign to make this kind of announcement. But we feel that there is a strategy on their part that is being put in place. We need to know when we will present our top candidates, we need an agenda. For all these reasons, we are starting to tell ourselves that we cannot act as if nothing had happened. We need to come together.”
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We need to know when we will present our top candidates, we need an agenda. For all these reasons, we are starting to tell ourselves that we cannot act as if nothing had happened. We need to come together.”
Recent recruitments among the Engagés do not worry the MR: “They will be trapped”
Several uncertainties weigh on the composition of the lists, in fact. In particular, the place that Charles Michel will occupy might cause a domino effect. Will the President of the European Council be able to stand in the elections in Belgium despite his mandate still in progress? If so, he might occupy the head of the European MR list. But there is legal uncertainty regarding this. Some specialists believe that in order to run in the elections, he should resign from his European post. Which he wouldn’t want.
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