As the big winners among the French-speaking parties, francophone liberal party MR and the centrist Les Engagés have begun talks with the aim of quickly forming governments in the Walloon Region and the French-speaking Community (FWB).
In a joint press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the party leaders Georges-Louis Bouchez (MR) and Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) confirmed they will partner to form the government in the Brussels-Capital Region and also at the federal level.
"Following Sunday's vote, we wanted to move forward quickly to reassure the public and show our determination to be effective. 48 hours later we are here before you, hard at work, which is quite unprecedented in terms of speed," Bouchez said.
Tough reforms
Breaking with convention, Bouchez did not consult all party presidents before announcing his intention to govern with Les Engagés. "We had contacts, but I didn't see the point in wasting time with several days of consultation when there was a very clear signal from the voters and a convergence with Les Engagés."
"We will use the rest of this week to fine-tune our methodology. From Monday, working groups will be at work," said Prévot. People from civil society organisations – from the worlds of business, sport, culture, associations and environmental protection – will be invited to share their ideas.
Bouchez emphasised the importance of tough reforms: "The consultations must also mobilise people who stand for change. We cannot hide our will for reforms but we are willing to listen to different sectors. We want all French speakers to be able to move forward."
MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez and Les Engagés' leader Maxime Prévot arrive for a press conference. Credit: Belga/Eric Lalmand
The two are not hiding their aim to "modernise the Francophone space" in Belgium. They want to slim down the governments as much as possible and are eager to get started.
"We must form a government as soon as possible. We must not lose ourselves in absurd conversations. There is genuine enthusiasm and we must not lose the momentum," Bouchez stressed. "That is why we are sitting here before you, 48 hours after the elections, to announce the formation of the Walloon government. That has never been seen before."
The parties have also joined forces to work together in the Brussels and Federal Government. This will give them a large majority, with 43 of the 75 seats in the Walloon Parliament.
In the Federal Parliament, MR and Les Engagés together have 34 seats – a majority on the French-speaking side. In Brussels, they have 28 of the 72 French-speaking seats, meaning they will need at least one other partner to achieve a majority on the French-speaking side.
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The blue-turquoise formation also presents itself federally as one partnership. But their unity is not "a condition for government participation, but rather a logical consequence" of the election results, Prévot stressed.
"We are not having the same dinner tonight," Bouchez said. "And we are not sleeping in the same bed either," Prévot joked. "This is a collaboration, not a fusion. But we will probably have lunch together tomorrow."
