The PS is ready to talk to the N-VA about a new federal government. However, the government’s project must deviate from that of the previous ‘Swedish’ coalition.
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That said PS chairman Paul Magnette on Tuesday evening on the French-language news channel LN24. What matters is the content, he said. “We can consider ruling with the N-VA,” said Magnette, although he added that the French-speaking socialists do not want to join the same project as the previous Swedish coalition. “I can’t imagine for a second that we do with N-VA what the previous government did.”
Where both may find each other is in any talks about a state reform, Magnette said. “We see that the state is no longer working well today, that the fragmentation of powers is of a hallucinatory complexity,” he said. In that context, the PS chairman wants to get rid of the division: every authority must be either 100 percent regional or 100 percent federal, it was said.
Opposition decreases
Yesterday it became clear that the PS is still willing to join a government with N-VA. Various scenarios were discussed yesterday at the party desk of the French-speaking socialists. A ‘oppositiescenario’ apparently, the PS still thinks about the formation interviews.
Walloon minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne and French Community minister Frédéric Daerden, among others, are inclined to enter into discussions with the N-VA. The opposition to join a government, if necessary with the N-VA, has not yet disappeared. But it does shrink.
Arizona
Party leaders Georges-Louis Bouchez, Egbert Lachaert and Joachim Coens have been trying for several weeks to set up a coalition consisting of the current government parties MR, Open VLD and CD&V, supplemented by N-VA, SP.A and CDH. Talks about the ‘Arizona’ are, however, difficult.
The imminent vote on the relaxation of the abortion law in the House throws a spanner in the works – Coens and N-VA chairman Bart De Wever did not approve a government matter of that relaxation. In addition, CDH and SP.A thanked last week for a first meeting with all six parties.
PS not involved
The PS is currently not involved in those conversations, unlike the Flemish socialists. Not a free choice, Magnette said. “Our essence is our sense of responsibility. We’re not just here to protest, that’s what sets us apart from other parties on the left. We are here to make proposals and defend them. In essence, we will never choose the opposition, ”the PS chairman was clear.
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