Belgian prime minister resigns after poor results for Liberal Party | International

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has thrown in the towel. The liberal announced this Sunday, amid tears, that after the poor results of his formation, he will definitely step aside and will no longer serve as acting head of government until a new coalition is formed, which traditionally in Belgium lasts months to years. In addition to the European elections, Belgium held federal and regional elections this Sunday. Although the expected victory of the Flemish separatist extreme right Vlaams Belang (VB) has not happened, the bad results for the liberals have prompted De Croo to take the unexpected step.

“This is a particularly difficult day for us, we have lost. From tomorrow, I will be a resigned prime minister,” De Croo said through tears. However, he has been reassured that his training will go ahead. “The liberals are strong, we will come back,” he promised. His party, Open VLD, has also fallen behind the Flemish liberals, the nationalists of the N-VA, the far-right Vlaams Belang and socialists Vooruit and the Christian Democrats CD&V.

In the absence of definitive results, Belgium turns to the right, but without a final turn, mostly towards the extremes.

Although it continues to increase its strength, the Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang has not achieved its goal of becoming the most voted party in Flanders and is, therefore, almost impossible to fit into an important and, above all, already complex formation of the next Belgian federal government. With the vote counting well underway, Bart De Wever’s nationalist N-VA party remains the leading force in the Dutch-speaking region, followed by Tom van Grieken’s ultra and eurosceptic party.

“Friends, we have won this election!” greeted the leader of the N-VA, who does not hide his intention to join the coalition of a future federal government, and even lead it as prime minister after De Croo. To this end, De Wever has been moderating his message in the last days of the campaign, even saying that the independence of Flanders can wait, even if it is the priority of his party, which has achieved almost 25% of the vote, the same result as in 2019 that allowed them to lead the formation of the Flemish government. Vlaams Belang, which was predicted by surveys to have 27% of the vote, finally remains at 22%, confirming the continuous progress of this ultra force that barely had 3.7% a decade ago, but did not allow it to declare itself the first party in Flanders and Belgium. Something that, in turn, represents a lifeline for the rest of the parties, which will not have to test the traditional cordon imposed on this anti-Muslim, anti-immigration and Eurosceptic party.

More than eight million Belgians were called to vote this Sunday in the European elections and the regional and federal elections from which the next government is to emerge. Voting centers opened at 8 am – the process was delayed in some places due to some technical incidents. Those who voted on paper could do so until 2:00 pm, while those who opted for electronic voting, which is possible in 187 cities and districts, had until 4:00 pm.

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The Belgian institutional lasagna, a term used by Belgians themselves because of the complexity of their national political system, has many layers and, perhaps, too many ingredients. In total, Belgians today had to elect the 22 MEPs assigned to the country, as well as 150 federal deputies (from whose forces the national government coalition talks will be conducted), 124 of the Flemish parliament, as well as 89 of Brussels, 75 from the parliament of Wallonia and 25 members of the German community in the east of the country.

While in Flanders, the N-VA was at the forefront hot on the heels of the VB Ultras remain soIn the capital of Brussels, the advance of the French-speaking liberals MR – as opposed to the Flemish ones of De Croo – risks a change of the regional government. So far it has been led by a coalition led by the French-speaking Socialists, who are now projected to move into second place, followed by the Communists of the PTB. The latter manage to advance, but not as much as predicted by the surveys, which also predicted the growth of the most radical left, like the Flemish militants.

In Wallonia, where results are taking longer to come in, after some incidents were reported at some polling stations, the MR is also emerging as the winning force, displacing the Socialists who had dominated until now. In any case, and according to Belgian tradition, no party will be able to gain enough strength to govern without forming some kind of coalition with other forces.

Nevertheless, the president of the MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez, has celebrated a “historic moment”. He has promised that this Monday he will begin the “necessary contacts” to form a government in both regions. The results “show the will for change, the will for reforms and we are going to give them concrete form,” promised the leader of the French-speaking liberal formation, of which Charles Michel, the current president of the European Council, is a member.

The outgoing federal government of De Croo has been a complex coalition of seven Flemish and Walloon parties, called La Vivaldi for its many political colours (as well as linguistic ones) and which took almost 500 days to form, nearly breaking a Belgian record, recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, of 541 days without a government. The next cabinet may have even more colours or layers when it is formed. This Sunday’s result certainly does not predict easy negotiations.

The political structures are so complex – both Wallonia and the French-speaking region of Dutch Flanders have socialist, conservative or liberal parties, but they are not necessarily identical structures, but with different programs and ideologies – that several media outlets have proposed in recent weeks to conduct an “electoral test” for citizens to find out which party is most favorable according to their interests and political preferences.

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