After about an hour, the first conversation about forming the Flemish Government between 'informator' Bart De Wever (N-VA) and party leaders Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) and Sammy Mahdi (CD&V) ended.
Ahead of the first joint discussion between De Wever, Depraetere and CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi, Depraetere reiterated her party's demand for a "starting note" to signal that the next government would be different and more social than the previous one.
Depraetere left the meeting without comment. However, Vooruit confirmed to Belga News Agency that De Wever agreed to draw up such a "starting note" that the party put on the table as a precondition for the start of real negotiations.
According to Mahdi, it is now up to De Wever to communicate on the next step, but work on a government between the three parties could take place in the coming days and weeks.
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Mahdi stressed that this note cannot be a "yellow note" (an N-VA note, after its party colours) but must contain the concerns of the three parties involved. For CD&V, Mahdi said this would include "agriculture, childcare, spatial development and trust in people."
Depratere and Mahdi almost arrived together on Friday at the Place des Martyrs in Brussels (where the Flemish Government normally meets) for their first joint meeting with De Wever. The latter is keen to launch a coalition between N-VA, CD&V and Vooruit – which has a majority of 65 out of 124 seats in parliament.
