The Flemish nationalist party N-VA boycotted Friday’s session at the Belgian Senate in protest against numerous policy proposals of the Federal Government, that it is seeking to get through the parliament’s upper house, Belga News Agency reports.
N-VA party member Karl Vanlouwe explained that the group's nine seats in the Senate had remained empty on Friday due to laws being proposed by the chamber that “fall outside its powers.” He stated that “the resolutions and reports passed by the government go against the Senate’s “extremely limited” legislative power.
Vanlouwe stated that Friday’s session in particular, which was focused on deep fakes, was “a waste of time and the last gasp of a declining institution.” The N-VA believes instead that the Senate should only be consulted on potential changes to the Belgian Constitution as well as on bicameral affairs.
Related News
- Parliamentary pension bonuses are 'illegal', rule federal MPs
- Antwerp instructs local theatre to replace 'woke' photos with classical paintings
However, the Flemish separatists’ protests would result in a further reduction of the Senate’s powers, which have already been diminished in Belgium’s successive state reforms. The upper house is now only composed of regional and community-elected representatives.
