Leader of the Flemish right-wing N-VA Bart De Wever, who has been leading the negotiations to form a Federal Government after his party won the elections, is again expected at the Royal Palace on Wednesday morning.
De Wever was appointed as "informator" by the King after the elections, meaning that he was instructed to find out which parties were willing to quickly put together a coalition agreement to form a Federal Government, and what the main political lines of that Government would be.
A week later, on 19 June, he went to the King to report on his assignment for the first time, after which the King extended it for another week. Now, De Wever's assignment may be extended again, as several parties have suggested it is still too early to take the next step in the formation process.
Speeding up the process
In an interview last week, De Wever said that he does not believe that any other formula is possible in the short term than a coalition with N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés. Talks with those parties are taking place in full discretion.
On Tuesday, Le Soir reported, based on information from a reliable source, that De Wever could well be appointed "formator" (the person leading the negotiations about the coalition agreement, who often becomes Prime Minister after), if no ordinary extension of his informator's mandate follows.
In this way, the search for an agreement would gain momentum between the five parties – a coalition sometimes referred to as the "Arizona" coalition, referring to the yellow, orange, red and blue colours in the US state's flag.
However, whether it will come to that remains to be seen as such a move seems too early for several parties. Meanwhile, others say that the process should "speed up a little."
Les Engagés leader Maxime Prévot. Credit: Belga
Flemish socialist party Vooruit, for example, has only met with De Wever in the framework of the Federal Government formation once, even though difficult decisions and important steps will have to be made before they agree to join an otherwise centre-right government.
French-speaking centrist Les Engagés also feels that taking the next steps towards forming the government are "slightly premature," party leader Maxime Prévot rold LN24 on Wednesday evening.
"We have not yet made sufficient progress in the convergence between the parties," he said. He also added that Vooruit had not yet committed to entering the coalition either. "The stars are not yet aligned favourably."
It is now up to the King to decide on the next steps.
