Leader of the rightwing Flemish N-VA party Bart De Wever has taken a step closer to forming the Federal Government – and likely becoming Belgium's next Prime Minister – as the King officially appointed him as "formator" on Wednesday morning.
After receiving the backing of his coalition partners (Flemish centrist CD&V and socialist Vooruit, and Francophone liberal MR and centrist Les Engagés) on Tuesday evening, De Wever as expected at the Royal Palace at 10:00.
In earlier phases of the formation process, the King first appointed De Wever as "informator" and then "preformator". After getting the necessary go-ahead from the socialists (who had been hesitant to enter into the otherwise centre-right government coalition), the real formation talks can start.
Having a formator just a month after the elections is very quick by Belgian standards, political scientist Dave Sinardet (VUB) commented on social media. The last time negotiations progressed so swiftly was in 2003, when Guy Verhofstadt was appointed formator 10 days after the election.
A Prime Minister 'for all Belgians'
Before the meeting, Vooruit's Conner Rousseau said that De Wever becoming Prime Minister would be "the most logical" scenario, although he added that the five parties have not yet discussed the premiership. "But I personally can see him doing it, he has the intellectual capacities for it."
Rousseau said the negotiations with De Wever went very well. "He has dealt with us correctly in recent weeks. If this continues, I do not see why the largest party could not deliver the Prime Minister."
The leader of Les Engagés, Maxime Prévot, also spoke positively about De Wever, saying that "there has been total respect and willingness to listen" since he was appointed informator immediately after the election. But if De Wever aspires to the premiership, "he does have to be Prime Minister for all Belgians."
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CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi agreed that De Wever is now an obvious candidate to become Prime Minister. But he cautioned that it might take time to win the favour of French-speaking partners.
"He has fulfilled his role very correctly in recent weeks," Mahdi said. "But we should not underestimate how it would come across in Wallonia, a Prime Minister who in the past has been quite harsh towards French speakers."
De Wever will report back to the King in exactly two weeks, on 24 July.
