Following the publication of leaked WhatsApp messages from Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, which suggested that De Croo’s cabinet had given the green light to the budget which forced former Secretary of State Eva de Bleeker to resign in November, several opposition parties have launched calls for the Belgian leader to step down.
The opposition parties are demanding, at a minimum, that De Croo present his official explanations before a parliamentary committee over the leaked WhatsApp messages.
De Croo has previously stated that the reason behind the multi-billion euro difference in budget projections sent to the European Commission in October and to MEPs in November had been due to “material errors” on the part of De Bleeker. The leaked messages would suggest that De Croo had been aware of the mistakes, instead choosing to sacrifice De Bleeker to maintain credibility.
This is the version of the story which the Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has maintained since the start of the debacle. In response to the leaks, N-VA politicians have reacted angrily to the prime minister.
“You don’t tell us everything, you don’t show us everything, you change the version… You said 17 times that you were going to be clear, but you always refused this transparency. Enough is enough! We are entitled to this. So I ask you for these documents, be transparent,” said N-VA politician Sander Loones.
Politicians of other opposition parties have also spoken critically of the Belgian leader. “Mrs. De Bleeker resigned for a fault that you committed. In a company, it would mean dismissal without compensation for serious misconduct,” said Sophie Merckx of Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA).
No confidence
Political parties N-VA, Vlaams Belang, Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA), and Jean-Marie Dedecker’s LDD (a Flemish right-wing splinter party from Open VLD) are now openly calling for De Croo’s resignation and have filed motions of no confidence in the Prime Minister which will be submitted during plenary session on Thursday.
This is unlikely to be any real challenge to De Croo’s authority in parliament, as the chamber will first vote on its confidence in the government, which still controls a majority. Despite disappointment and grumbling from Les Engagés and Défi, who state that De Croo “missed an opportunity” to “create transparency”, there appears to be no sign that the constituent parties of the current government have lost faith in their leader.
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De Croo has dismissed criticisms of the leaked messages as “political games.” He has explained that “government takes budgetary decisions in conclave” and that it was “ministers and secretaries who execute” its delivery after it is formulated by government. De Croo maintains that the results of the budget were not in line with instructions provided by the government.
“A text message can never call into question a formal decision of the government. Of course there are messages exchanged on the budget. I never denied the existence of such messages. But I deny the existence of messages giving the green light to a modification of the general statement of the 2023 budget,” De Croo stated.
