Outgoing Brussels Minister Sven Gatz (Open VLD) is not a candidate to fill a cabinet post in the new Brussels Government – if and when it is formed, he announced on Thursday.
Liberal Open VLD had previously announced that it would join the Dutch-speaking majority and settle for a Government Commissioner (instead of a ministerial post) in a coalition with Groen, N-VA and Vooruit.
From 2014 to 2019, Gatz was Minister of Culture, Media, Youth and Brussels Affairs in the Flemish Government. Afterwards, he succeeded Guy Vanhengel as Brussels Minister of Finance and Budget, Civil Service Affairs and the promotion of Multilingualism in Brussels.
Within the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), he is responsible for, among other things, Dutch-language Education and School Construction in Brussels.
No breakthrough in sight
The Brussels Government has been "in current affairs" since the elections of June 2024 and negotiations for a new government are still ongoing. Gatz will not be a candidate for a ministerial position, but he will continue in his position until a new government takes office.
Meanwhile, Gatz is rather pessimistic about finding a solution for the blocked negotiations at the moment. "At the moment I don't see a breakthrough. Something will have to happen – such as the formation of a federal government – but I see very few openings."
The Brussels formation is currently blocked with no end in sight. For months, a coalition was in the making on the French-speaking side with MR, Les Engagés and PS, but there was no majority on the Dutch-speaking side in sight.
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Ahmed Laaouej pictured at the PS post-election meeting, in Brussels, Sunday 09 June 2024. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
Now, however, the Dutch speakers in Brussels found a majority with Groen, N-VA, Open VLD and Vooruit/ However, this arrangement did not suit the French-speaking PS Brussels leader Ahmed Laaouej, who issued a veto against N-VA, but critics suspect that the French-speaking socialists would rather not make significant cuts in the Brussels budget.
"You cannot spend everything in one legislature and then say in the next legislature that the others have to solve it," Gatz said on Flemish radio on Thursday morning. "We know that [Laoouej] wants to save less than we do, but you should at least come to the table to determine a feasible path towards recovery."
It has not yet been decided who will succeed Gatz if Open VLD is part of a new government in Brussels.