Outgoing Brussels Budget Minister Sven Gatz (Open VLD) has listed ten reasons why Brussels PS leader Ahmed Laaouej is wrong to be refusing to speak to Flemish rightwing N-VA to form the Brussels Regional Government.
In an opinion piece published in De Morgen on Thursday, Gatz says that "one man has been blocking the formation of a Brussels Government for months now. There is not one reason to mention why he is wrong in his misplaced persistence, but ten."
"Brussels is a liberal city where many socialists also live: ceci n'est pas une ville de gauche," he said.
The Flemish liberal minister points out that it was not the Francophone socialist PS, but the Francophone liberals MR who won the Brussels elections on 9 June last year. He also notes that the Belgian Prime Minister's N-VA is "nationalist and conservative, but not racist."
Brussels is not an island
Gatz continued to state that Brussels is not an island, and close cooperation with the regions and communities in the north and south of the country would be smart. Additionally, Brussels desperately needs federal support for its role as a capital and the associated challenges.
He also recalled that the Brussels Government has been formed with a majority in both language groups for 35 years (seven governments), as prescribed by the Brussels law.
When the Brussels Region was created, "arch enemies" FDF (Front Démocratique des Francophones, now DéFI) and VU (Flemish nationalist Volksunie) sat together in the government for years. "Why not Défi and N-VA? Let alone PS, which was one of the founders of a separate statute for Brussels," he said, also noting that "no French-speaking party has ever vetoed a Dutch-speaking partner (or vice versa) in the past."
Brussels PS leader Ahmed Laaouej pictured during a press conference in Brussels region parliament, in Brussels, Wednesday 29 January 2025. Credit: Belga
Additionally, PS does not want to make savings to get the Brussels budget back on track, according to him. The last government was forced to spend a lot due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crises. "And now we need to save."
"Smart savings require courage," Gatz said. "Ahmed Laaouej says he wants to do that. But in the current government, I only get presented with unaffordable extra bills to finance social housing."
Additionally, Laaouej places the municipalities above the Brussels Region, Gatz said. "But you cannot try to strengthen the municipalities, and ruffle the feathers of the Federal Government, and refuse to come to the table for the formation of a Brussels Government and then feign surprise when the Brussels Capital Region goes up in smoke."
Polarising
Gatz also accuses Laaouej of putting his party's interest above the general interest. "His illustrious predecessor Philippe Moureaux stated the same things, but did come to the table, negotiated hard and reached an agreement. And stuck to it. Now, PS uses a different strategy: to make itself impossible to work with for all other Brussels political formations."
According to him, PS is "deliberately polarising" and is following the radical left Belgian Workers' Party PTB-PVDA under Laaouej. Gatz refers to the "dangerous rent regulation," which "threatens to drive owners/landlords away from Brussels" that was recently approved by the Brussels Parliament with a majority of PS, PTB-PVDA and Ecolo. On these grounds, his liberal colleagues at MR had also vetoed going into government with PTB and Fouad Ahidar, despite the two parties having performed well in the regional elections in Brussels.
Gatz concludes with the recent switch of of MP Lafita Aït Baala who moved to PS from MR. "Defections have become a plague in Brussels politics, but this transfer really takes the cake: as if it were a vulgar football transfer market, someone is suddenly and out of nowhere persuaded to go from the blue to the red team. Coincidentally at the moment when some are making desperate and cautious attempts to go from a minority coalition to a majority."
More information about the Brussels Government formation can be found here.
