Political reforms among final hurdles in Flemish government formation
The chief negotiators of N-VA, Vooruit and CD&V met on Tuesday to work out the remaining hurdles in the formation of the Flemish government. These include the abolition of provincial governments, the protection of agricultural land and the reintroduction of compulsory voting.
With the budget agreement reached on Monday, formateur Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) has already cleared a very important obstacle on the way to the next Flemish government. Before a detailed coalition agreement can be finalised, a number of other knots still need to be untangled.
There is still no agreement on government reforms. N-VA and Vooruit want to abolish provincial governments and reduce the number of MPs in the Flemish parliament from 124 to 100. The N-VA argues that the ratio of MPs per citizen in Flanders is relatively high.
CD&V not yet convinced
CD&V is opposed to these changes, at least for now. The party says that reducing the number of MPs would make it harder for smaller parties to win seats and strengthen the far-right Vlaams Belang. While the abolition of provincial governments is not a breaking point for the party, leader Sammy Mahdi said "it is important that the individuality of each municipality is respected".
"It is important that the individuality of each municipality is respected"
Other issues include sanctions against parents who do not make sufficient efforts to respect school agreements or to speak Dutch. As the most pro-agricultural party, CD&V will try to water down the protection of agricultural land and the ban on fertiliser in nature reserves. The reintroduction of compulsory voting in local and provincial elections is also on the table.
The Flemish government formation is expected to end towards the end of this week, with Thursday or Friday the most likely scenarios. This would allow the parties to hold their accession congresses over the weekend and for Diependaele to make a September declaration - the annual government policy statement by the minister president to MPs - on Monday.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ
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