The King accepted the resignation of Bart De Wever and Paul Magnette, the Palace said in a statement. He entrusts a mission to Egbert Lachaert president of the Open VLD. “The King has instructed Mr. Egbert Lachaert to take the necessary initiatives allowing the establishment of a government which relies on a large majority in parliament.“
Egbert Lachaert accepted this mission. He will have to report to the King on August 28. His name had been circulating for several days to endorse a royal mission. Some were betting on a duo uniting an environmentalist and a liberal to take up the difficult task of finding a majority around a government project. The Palace ultimately chose to have only one project manager.
Egbert Lachaert, president of the Open VLD, had co-signed with the presidents of the MR, Groen and Ecolo a press release which had precipitated the end of the pre-training mission of Paul Magnette and Bart De Wever. Now it’s up to him to take control.
It remains to be seen which coalition Egbert Lachaert will test as a priority. Will he pursue a path that always combines the PS and the N-VA or will he favor other formulas such as the rainbow (alliance of French-speaking and Flemish socialists, liberals and ecologists) or even the coalition known as “Vivaldi” (PS, SP.a, Groen, Ecolo, MR, Open VLD, CD&V)?
With a view to his election as head of the Flemish Liberal Party, Egbert Lachaert opposed this “Vivaldi” coalition because the Flemish parties that make it up do not represent a majority of Flemish voters.
Monday August 17, the preformers, Bart De Wever and Paul Magnette submitted their resignation to the King. The King initially maintained this resignation under advisement. He then immediately began consultations to see what follow-up to the desire of the preformers to be relieved of their mission.
Since yesterday, he has met the various party presidents involved so far in the negotiations for the formation of a federal government. These various consultations led the King to entrust a mission to Egbert Lachaert.
The King was thus able to meet yesterday with Joachim Coens (CD&V), Conner Rousseau (SP.a) and Maxime Prévot (cdH). This Tuesday morning, he met Egbert Lachaert (Open VLD), Georges-Louis Bouchez (MR), Jean-Marc Nollet (Ecolo), Meyrem Almaci (Groen) and finally François De Smet (Défi).
–
