"Many people in the poll indicate that Vooruit should be in the government, and that is what we believe too," said Vooruit leader Melissa Depraetere on Sunday in VTM News.
A poll by Het Laatste Nieuws revealed on Sunday that 57.7% of respondents believe Vooruit should continue negotiating to form a federal government. Only 25.5% think the party should withdraw from the negotiation table.
Melissa Depraetere, who is now the Vice-President of the regional Flemish Parliament, also believes that her party should remain in the coalition talks. "If a better and fairer proposal comes to the table, we will return to the negotiating table. The people of Flanders want Vooruit in the coalition," she said.
According to her, there are only two viable paths. "Either the formator continues with the current content, leading to a right-wing and unfair policy, which Open VLD would sign off on immediately. The other path is the Arizona coalition, with a more social agenda. This would require a change in content."
"We will have to reform and tackle difficult issues regarding pensions, the labour market, and the budget," Depraetere declared. "But we believe it should not all fall on the ordinary man, the retired, or indexation of people’s incomes."
