Bart De Wever stays on as federal formateur for two more weeks
Bart De Wever has been given until 25 November to "break the deadlock" in the federal formation. This was announced by the Royal Palace on Tuesday afternoon following a meeting between De Wever and King Philippe.
The King "notes that there has not yet been a breakthrough in the formation of a new government, but that the talks are still ongoing", a palace press release said. He has therefore decided to "re-confirm the formateur in his post and give him until 25 November to break the deadlock". This means De Wever has two more weeks to find a majority.
The extension comes as a surprise. It seemed that a coalition between N-VA, MR, Les Engagés, CD&V and Vooruit was dead in the water after Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau refused to continue negotiations on the basis of De Wever's economic proposals. This even led to De Wever submitting his resignation as formateur, which the King rejected.
The N-VA leader then considered replacing Vooruit with the liberals of Open VLD, inviting leader Eva De Bleeker this week. But a potential coalition would have no Flemish majority - a non-negotiable for N-VA - and a very small majority of 76 out of 150 seats. CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi has also publicly rejected the idea on several occasions.
Talks with Vooruit
De Wever has not said how he intends to continue the talks, but a source told Belga that he wants to resume talks with Vooruit rather than replace them with Open VLD. Vooruit minister Melissa Depraetere told VTM Nieuws on Sunday that the socialists would come back to the table if a "better proposal" was presented.
Before his meeting with the King on Tuesday, De Wever had a meeting with MR, Les Engagés and CD&V. It is also possible that the four parties will negotiate among themselves first and later bring in a fifth party to form a majority.
© BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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