Leaked Whatsapp messages from Alexander De Croo suggest he was not completely honest regarding the budget fiasco that made Secretary of State Eva De Bleeker resign, Knack reports.
As a result, the opposition Flemish nationalists N-VA has demanded that De Croo explains the messages at Parliament on Tuesday.
In November, De Bleeker was forced to resign over her budget proposal to the Belgian Parliament because it included larger deficits than the draft budget which had already been sent to the European Commission.
According to Knack, leaked WhatsApp messages indicate that De Croo's cabinet gave the green light to the budget that De Bleeker (Open VLD) initially presented and subsequently led to her departure. De Croo has denied that his cabinet approved her proposal and the figures it contained.
On the contrary, the Prime Minister argued that his cabinet would have flagged up the incorrect figures and highlighted the error De Bleeker made in including the permanent VAT reduction in the budget. It had been agreed that it would only become permanent based on reforms that have not yet been finalised.
Poor communication
Despite the Prime Minister's denials, WhatsApp messages have emerged that indicate that his cabinet did in fact agree to the VAT measure. Two messages appear to give the green light on De Bleeker's 2023 budget. Other local news sources have confirmed the authenticity of the messages.
The messages were part of several exchanges between De Croo's cabinet and De Bleeker's. In separate documents, De Croo's cabinet notes that the VAT cost wasn't agreed on.
De Croo insisted in Parliament last week that his cabinet worked within the "usual channels" on the budget documents.
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According to his cabinet, the messages in question dealt with more specific aspects of the documents, such as efficiency gains in relation to social security. Yet it appears that De Bleeker's cabinet published her proposal based on the approval from De Croo's cabinet.
N-VA Party Chairman Peter De Roover has reacted angrily: "If the prime minister speaks, we assume that he is telling the truth. It now appears that his statements about the preparation of the budget are not true. That is unacceptable in a democracy. To clarify this, we are taking the Prime Minister to the Finance Committee this afternoon."
