Talks among the five parties of the "Arizona" coalition – N-VA, MR, Les Engagés, CD&V, and Vooruit – resumed on Thursday in the latest effort to resuscitate the government negotiations.
Discussions have been at a standstill since the beginning of last week when the Flemish socialists Vooruit walked out, refusing to support a coalition agreement unless De Wever's socio-economic "supernote" (the document that outlines the government's legislation programme) is substantially changed.
As the only left-of-centre party in the coalition, Vooruit deemed the previous socio-economic and budgetary proposals put forward by Bart De Wever to be unbalanced. However, Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau has now acknowledged that the new proposal contains some “significant openings”.
On Tuesday, the King gave De Wever two more weeks to establish a “stable majority”. This notably allows De Wever to again try to get Vooruit on board, rather than giving up on the socialists and instead pursuing an alternative coalition with Flemish liberals Open VLD. This latter arrangement is seen as untenable for a government as it would only offer a majority of one seat in the Chamber, essentially meaning that every MP in government would be able to block legislation they didn't agree with.
Entering the meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Rousseau confirmed to reporters that new budgetary proposals had been tabled that his party might accept. "I see that the biggest earners would shoulder a greater tax burden, I see that [wage] indexation would be maintained, and I see that government saving efforts are more evenly distributed," he said.
He stressed that the Flemish socialists want to ensure that the other parties will agree with their interpretation of the proposal. If so, Rousseau indicated that the altered proposal could offer a genuine opening to an agreement. But he cautioned that back-pedalling by coalition partners would jeopardize the agreement.
Several sources close to the negotiations suggest a new approach will see partners address issues thematically rather than as a single comprehensive proposal. Thursday's meeting is expected to be brief.
