The leader of the Brussels branch of the Francophone liberal MR, David Leisterh, caused a controversy over the weekend after he said that Brussels should not only be managed by those living there, but also by the other Regions and the Federal Government.
When asked whether the fact that Bouchez said he himself would lead the government negotiations in Brussels was holding him Leisterh back from forming a French-speaking majority in Brussels, Leisterh said this was not the case at all.
"[Bouchez] is right about one thing: for too long Brussels has been run solely by those who live there," he told L'Echo. "The lack of influence of the national parties is dangerous, especially given the issues at stake – which are sometimes the same in Wallonia, Flanders and at the federal level. So the party's contribution is very useful to me."
While many of Bouchez's statements have been perceived as inflammatory – such as his attack on Brussels' Groen leader Elke Van den Brandt – Leisterh said that the advantage was that "they made it very clear which two issues (Good Move and the language Communities) are important for us."
'Must remain for the people'
Responding to the interview, the leader of the Francophone regionalist DéFi party François De Smet expressed his concern on social media.
"Either it is a lack of understanding of the fight for Brussels that Francophones have been waging for 60 years, or it is a political programme in line with MR, which at the federal level has never supported Brussels: police, flyovers, recovery plan, etc. In any case, it is worrying," De Smet stated.
DéFi's Brussels leader Fabian Maingain added that Brussels should indeed assume its status as the Belgian and European capital, but the city "must remain for the people" living there. "It is, has been and always will be DéFi's fight to ensure that Brussels is respected as a region in its own right."
Bruxelles est et doit rester une région à part entière, à l'égale des 2 autres. Les https://t.co/5CQyxqVwsH ont choisi leurs représentants pour les défendre contre les velléités récurrentes de mise sous tutelle, pas pour les y soumettre. Nous ne transigerons jamais sur ce point. https://t.co/S2HG75veJ9
— Ahmed Laaouej (@AhmedLaaouej) June 22, 2024
The remarks did not go down well with the Francophone socialist PS party – which MR is meeting for Brussels government formation talks this week – either.
"Brussels is and must remain a region in its own right, on equal footing with the other two," said Brussels PS leader Ahmed Laaouej. "The people of Brussels have chosen their representatives to defend them against recurrent attempts to put them under supervision, not to subject them to it. We will never compromise on this point."
The mayor of Evere Ridouane Chahid (PS) attributed the comments to Leisterh's alleged ambitions of becoming Brussels Minister-President. "Even though he has not yet been sworn in, he who wants to be Minister-President has already taken steps towards those who dream of putting us under supervision."
'Not an appendage'
Ecolo shared the same view, with outgoing Federal Climate Minister Zakia Khattabi stating that Brussels is "not an appendage of either Flanders or Wallonia."
"Its status as a capital city that bears more than its share of certain collective costs (such as tunnels, asylum seekers) naturally calls for solidarity with the other entities, but under no circumstances for co-management," she said.
#Bruxelles n’est l’appendice ni de la Flandre ni de la Wallonie ! Son statut de capitale qui prend en charge + que sa part dans certains coûts collectifs (tunnels, demandeurs en asile..) appelle naturellement à la solidarité des autres entités mais en aucun cas à la co-gestion ! https://t.co/daslZL6Quo
— Zakia Khattabi (@KhattabiZakia) June 22, 2024
Outgoing Brussels Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) went one step further and underlined that even though Leisterh said he was "in a rush," he has still not started negotiating a coalition agreement 15 days after the elections. "He also assumes the tutelage of his party leader from Mons. For the rest: abolition of 'Renolution' premiums, priority to Metro 3 and car tunnels."
Still, Leisterh himself is less harsh in his opinions than Bouchez. While the latter wants to "bury" Good Move, Leisterh said that the "brand" of the mobility plan has created "more tension than anything else and that's how we interpret our more than 100,000 votes."
However, Leisterh acknowledged that this does not mean a mobility plan is not needed. "We are looking at ways of improving mobility to make it more fluid, with room for pedestrians, cyclists and cars in certain places."
The MR leader in Brussels is also the party's political negotiator to form a Brussels-Capital Region Government, and is set to meet with representatives from the PS and Les Engagés parties this week. He will present the delegates with an initial political memorandum and a budgetary framework outline.
Leisterh, in the company of his party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez, will host these discussions as part of the process towards creating the next French-speaking regional majority in Brussels. This will then need to be balanced with a Dutch-speaking majority, which is also still in the negotiating phase.
