The commune of Brecht in Antwerp has become the third Flemish town to break the cordon sanitaire and enter into government with the far-right. The local list "nu2960" formed a coalition with far-right Vlaams Belang.
The cordon sanitaire is an agreement between Belgian political parties not to enter into government with the far-right. The rule was introduced in 1989 following the far-right party Vlaams Blok's (Vlaams Belang's predecessor) electoral success on Black Sunday in 1982. However, one week after the elections the political agreement was broken for the first time in Ranst (also in Antwerp); several days later this also happened in Izegem (West Flanders).
In a surprising turn of events, the largest political group in Brecht – a local list named "nu2960" – has formed a coalition with Vlaams Belang instead of the outgoing N-VA of Mayor Sven Deckers.
Ungovernable?
The agreement was finalised on the last day in which Vlaams Belang had the right of initiative. This system gives lists two weeks to form a coalition, starting with the list with the most votes and working its way down. The deal was approved by a majority of the elected council members.
Frans Van Looveren (nu2960), currently serving as a City Councillor in the college, will be the new mayor. He said that the agreement was necessary to prevent the municipality from becoming ungovernable.
"From the start of negotiations, we believed an agreement with N-VA could be reached," he stated. "However, the discussions were very difficult. N-VA demanded rather than negotiated and excluded others from the table. The threat of Brecht becoming ungovernable by 5 December grew larger."
While final attempts at reaching an agreement with N-VA failed, nu2960 accepted an invitation from Vlaams Belang, which led to "constructive discussions". "In our talks with Vlaams Belang Brecht, we found many common points in our programmes," nu2960 said.
In exchange for joining the coalition, Vlaams Belang Brecht will rebrand as "Ons Brecht" to show the local community that both parties are prioritising local governance over national rhetoric. N-VA will be the sole opposition party.
