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After the failure of Bart De Wever and Paul Magnette to put together a government, the liberals are pulling the sleeve of the PS. The intention is to mobilize Wilmès III.
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The preformers De Wever (N-VA) and Magnette (PS) released their final report on Monday and offered the king their resignation. “The King is reserving his decision and is entering into consultations with the parties that were involved in the political discussions after the elections,” said the Palace.
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The king saw at 2 pm the first CD&V chairman Joachim Coens, then sp.a leader Conner Rousseau. After that, a telephone contact with CDH chairman Maxime Prévot, who is on holiday abroad, was planned. On Tuesday he will see the liberals and the greens. And so the king buys time to see what is still possible.
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Maneuver with care
Without political consensus on how things should proceed, it is difficult for King Philippe to initiate anything himself. It is not really up to the king, because there is still a government in the saddle. It is only because De Wever and Magnette switched the Palace back on themselves, after they had made a deal among themselves, that the king has rolled back into the formation game.
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But as long as no one comes forward who thinks they have a good chance of forming a government after all, it is therefore very careful maneuvering for King Philippe.
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The first step that the preformers have already given on Friday and Saturday is that it is now up to the liberals and the greens to give it a try. That seems like logic itself, because because green and blue had linked up, the mission of the preformateurs was blocked. It was no longer possible to separate Open VLD from the MR.
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Need more time
However, that sudden blue-green alliance didn’t provide enough solid ground to start a purple-green government, or a Vivaldi coalition. More time is needed so that Open VLD chairman Egbert Lachaert can make the turn to purple-green. Faced with socialists and greens, it threatens to become even more difficult for Lachaert to put a blue stamp on a coalition agreement.
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Purple-yellow had to fail first, before purple-green has a chance, there are whispers here and there.
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But it cannot be ruled out that purple-green or Vivaldi will rise from the ashes of purple-yellow. Purple-yellow had to fail first, before purple-green has a chance, there are whispers here and there.
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Lachaert also maintains that purple-yellow is and remains the first choice as far as he is concerned. That door seemed to be ajar last weekend, because even though the preformers already threw in the towel on Friday, they still waited until Monday to offer their resignation to the king. And the king might be on vacation, he was ‘available’ from Friday.
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Not a discreet conversation
The fact that the preformateurs threw in the towel on Friday was perhaps an ultimate attempt to make Lachaert take the plunge, because the alternative of a purple-green government was and is even more difficult for the chairman of Open VLD. But it did not come to a discreet conversation between De Wever and Lachaert last weekend. The N-VA saw with sorrow that Lachaert put all his energy into his own defense.
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Purple-yellow therefore seems to be a closed chapter, as was also apparent from the video message De Wever sent out to the world, putting an end to it. In it, he says that everything was on the table to come to a strong coalition agreement – with a reduction in taxes – but that the courage was lacking. That is a sneer at the address of Open VLD chairman Lachaert, without mentioning him by name. By talking about a tax reduction and reversing the nuclear exit, he immediately sets the bar high for the liberals for other coalitions.
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The Purple & Yellow is therefore off the track, although it cannot be ruled out that the bubble of five will be heard again, if by mid-September – when Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès (MR) again asks for confidence – there is no prospect of a breakthrough. Then the bubble of five, with 70 seats and with tolerance support of blue or green, could possibly achieve a ‘relative majority’ in parliament.
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Wilmès III
But we are not that far yet, because the liberals are now also examining how they can expand the minority government Wilmès. MR Chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez is not aiming for elections, but for Wilmès III, it is said.
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Open VLD chairman Lachaert said in De Standaard on Monday that elections will follow sooner than that the liberals will remain in the Wilmès government. MR vice-chairman Jean-Luc Crucke also warned in De Oorning that elections will follow if no majority is found on 17 September.
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Bouchez, however, dismissed speculation about elections as “gossip and pranks.” He is committed to the expansion of the Wilmès government with the PS, which means that the government may not yet have a majority, but it weighs heavily enough to keep parliament under control. Only when the work of Wilmès III can be cashed in does Bouchez want to go to elections. That is the scenario the liberals are working on.
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