While the various political parties remain very discreet about their negotiations to form the Brussels-Capital Region Government, the French-speaking liberals MR and regionalist DéFi vetoed the presence of the Team Fouad Ahidar party in a future government.
MR party leader David Leisterh – who is in charge of forming the majority on the French-speaking side of the Brussels Government – set his veto against newcomer on the Dutch-speaking side Team Fouad Ahidar.
"There is no way we are going to govern with the party," he told Bruzz. "It is a party that focuses mainly on the Muslim community and wants to bring religion back into politics, and that is really the opposite of what we want."
French-speaking regionalist DéFI also spoke out against working together with Ahidar. "We have a veto against that," said party spokesperson Michaël Carletta. The centrist Les Engagés party is also taking a critical position and talks about "disturbing statements" made by Ahidar, but has not (yet) spoken about a possible veto.
Unprecedented
However, in Brussels it is not customary for one language group to become involved in the coalition formation of the other language group, so the fact that Francophone parties MR and DéFI are now speaking out against working with Ahidar on the Dutch-speaking side is "unprecedented."
The formation of the Brussels Government happens in two steps: majorities are first sought in the Dutch-speaking and on the French-speaking sides, before they negotiate a coalition agreement together.
The discussions on the Dutch-speaking side are led by Groen's Elke Van den Brandt, who won four (of the 17) seats with her party. Team Fouad Ahidar (a former Vooruit MP who started his own party) surprisingly became second with three seats. Flemish right-wing N-VA, far-right Vlaams Belang, liberal Open VLD and socialist Vooruit all have two seats each, while centrist CD&V and far-left PVDA both obtained one seat.
Groen's Elke Van den Brandt on election night. Credit: Belga/ David Stockman
Forming a majority with just three parties on the Dutch side is only possible with Team Fouad Ahidar, but no one seems to be particularly keen on including them. Many politicians have stated that his party has a number of religiously inspired positions – such as allowing unstunned slaughter – that they do not necessarily agree with, but also cite that Ahidar's elected officials have no political experience.
In an interview with De Standaard, Ahidar said that his party is "not at all" a Muslim party, adding that numerous statements were taken out of context. "We had several non-Muslims on our list. Islam does not appear in our programme either. Yes, we are for allowing headscarves for civil servants, but so is Vooruit."
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As long as the formation talks are taking place, however, most parties are remaining discreet. Only Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA) clearly said that a majority with Team Fouad Ahidar was "not an option." At Vooruit, the wounds from Ahidar's departure still seem to be too painful. Groen, Open VLD and CD&V have not yet spoken out openly.
Without Team Fouad Ahidar, two coalitions seem possible: Groen, Open VLD, Vooruit and CD&V, or Green with what will likely also become the Flemish Government coalition: N-VA, Vooruit and CD&V. Vlaams Belang was not invited by Van den Brandt for an exploratory meeting.
Progress about a possible agreement will likely not be made until the end of this week, however, as Brussels State Secretary Ans Persoons (who headed the Vooruit list) is abroad, and Flemish Minister for Brussels Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) is also on a mission.
