Belgian government wins confidence vote after marathon debate in parliament
After a marathon parliamentary debate lasting two days and almost two full nights, the Chamber of Representatives gave its vote of confidence to the new Belgian federal government around 2h30 Friday morning, the majority against the minority.
MPs had been taking turns to criticise or defend the coalition agreement since Wednesday morning. The debate went on throughout the night and ended more than 40 hours later with a vote of confidence.
Discussions already became heated on Wednesday, with members of the opposition sharply criticising the government's plans to tackle Belgium's budget deficit, including reforms to pensions, social security and health care.
Feasible?
MPs from several parties, including the Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang and the French-speaking socialist party PS, questioned the feasibility of the many positive economic side-effects the government is counting on to balance the books, amounting to almost 8 billion euros.
"An ambitious reform agenda will result in ambitious payback effects. You can rest assured that I will be the watchdog of my colleagues to make sure that this actually happens," responded Budget minister Vincent Van Peteghem on Thursday evening.
Earlier on Thursday, after having been questioned for almost 28 hours, prime minister Bart De Wever criticised the length of the parliamentary debate itself. "I dare to ask out loud, is this way of debating really still of this time? Do we really still have to do it this way?" he said.
De Wever was applauded by many MPs for his comment, although as prime minister he is not supposed to interfere in the organisation of parliamentary business. "You are applauding against yourself," he said, adding that MPs were criticising the process behind the scenes while at the same time participating in the "sketch".
De Wever also rejected accusations that his government will treat asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups inhumanely, insisting that his coalition "will not fail to tell the truth as it is and to take decisions", even if those decisions are difficult.
Development aid
Foreign minister Maxime Prévot faced criticism over the government's plans to cut funding for development cooperation by a quarter in the next legislature. "The government is putting people's lives at risk and we will continue to fight against this," said Staf Aerts of the Flemish green party Groen.
The vote of confidence was originally due to take place around 16:00 on Thursday, but was delayed by the lengthy discussions. The coalition agreement of De Wever's government received 81 votes of confidence, 66 votes against and 0 abstentions.
Bart De Wever | © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK