Georges-Louis Bouchez, the President of the Francophone liberals Mouvement Réformateur (MR), reiterated the party's commitment to a minority government in Brussels during a BX1 interview on Tuesday morning.
Over nine months on from the 9 June elections, Brussels is yet to form a government. Last Friday, Bouchez asked parties to decide by Monday afternoon on a proposal for a coalition with a commissioner from the Flemish nationalist party N-VA. Without an agreement, Bouchez warned there would be no other choice than a minority government in one of the language groups.
The proposal did not achieve full support from the parties. "This proposal was accepted by five of the six parties around the table. Only the PS [Socialist Party] refused," according to an MR statement to Belga News Agency. On Monday evening, MR announced it would broaden parliamentary support without PS.
"This is not an April Fool's joke," Bouchez told BX1. "We are not going to explore the possibility of a minority government; we are going to work on it and implement it."
In response to MR's interest in forming a minority government, the Brussels Federation of the PS stated that there is still significant interest from parties to form a majority government. It accused MR of pursuing a minority government to keep its alliance with N-VA.
The PS further stated it would not support "blind austerity" and committed to defending the autonomy and institutional integrity of the Capital Region.
"If partners can form a parliamentary majority based on the MR's proposal, so be it. If not, MR will have to face the reality that its political project for Brussels lacks majority support among the people of Brussels," concluded the PS statement.
