He was rather discreet, especially in the media, Elio Di Rupo was the guest of Jeudi en Prime. If he came as Walloon minister-president, the former Prime Minister, former president of the PS, still gave his analysis of the political situation to the federal government.
Elio Di Rupo does not want to make substantive comments on the note of the royal informers, but for the rest he repeats, we must find a solution: “The most important thing is that we come up with a solution. My feeling is that our citizens are asking for solutions, with higher incomes, for pensioners but not only people who work too. People must that they can find housing, that people can be in good health. This reality applies to Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders. I sincerely hope that a solution, that a positive attitude will emerge.“
For Elio Di Rupo, no doubt, the president of his party, Paul Magnette, is trying to do everything to find this solution and he expects the same attitude from the other parties: “Women and politicians must solve the problems of citizens. In the coming days, we must try to ensure that there is a majority that can emerge with these priorities. “
The only response from the N-VA was to split the country
Because for Elio Di Rupo, no doubt, a return to the polls would not bring anything good: “Voting would be a failure. The great danger, and I argue that we should not go back to the elections, are the extremes. Especially the Flemish extreme right who could win. If tomorrow the Flemish extreme right, the Vlaams Belang, plus the N-VA have an even larger number of seats than today, the situation will be much worse. And we don’t want the country torn apart. We don’t want the end of the country. “
Reaffirm the importance of Belgian unity is also a message to the N-VA. Elio Di Rupo thus reveals part of the previous discussions to form a government: “I will tell you the true truth. We, Mr Magnette and I, have had contacts with the N-VA, under the aegis of a number of informants. We have tried to find constructive solutions. The only answer we got was, “We have to split the country.”
Priorities for the federal government and the Walloon Region
By the way, Elio Di Rupo recalls his party’s priorities: accessible health care, raising the minimum wage, and a minimum pension of 1,500 euros net. Elements which are not in the note of the informants where one speaks in particular of universal pension. An idea that Elio Di Rupo does not reject as such, while specifying: “What matters is that people who have worked all their lives can have a decent pension to live on. When we say 1500 euros net for a person who has worked his whole life, that is to say 45 years on average, this is not an exaggeration. That there are other forms of solution, we can discuss them. But we want to respect those who have worked their whole lives. “
For the Walloon Region, as Minister-President, Elio Di Rupo targets 3 challenges: “the social challenge, the ecological challenge and the economic challenge. So, together with my colleagues from the Walloon government, we are developing a transition strategy. We want to move to a much better situation for Wallonia and for those who live there. For example, on the economy, there are about 78,000 businesses that employ an average of 7 people each. We must help them to develop. If each can create an additional job, you see what it can mean. “
Another priority of the Walloon government, housing: “Today, we have to invest, the thousands of people who are waiting for housing or are in unsanitary housing, it is not possible. We took up the problem head on, with Minister Dermagne, we are going to renovate 3000 homes this year and continue for the next few years. We also need to build new public housing. “
On thehe very complex dossier of photovoltaic panels however, the plans seem much less clear. Elio Di Rupo confines himself to specifying that the government has asked for a period of four months to try to find a solution.
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