Fouad Ahidar tries to relaunch government negotiations in Brussels
Fouad Ahidar, leader of the Team Fouad Ahidar party, will speak to the other Dutch-speaking parties in Brussels on Monday with the goal of relaunching the Brussels government formation negotiations.
Flemish green party Groen halted the negotiations with the francophone liberals MR last week because of a breach of trust, and handed over the initiative to form a coalition on the Dutch-speaking side in Brussels.
Last Friday, Elke Van den Brandt of Groen stepped down as Dutch-speaking formateur. She took the decision after the francophone coalition partners - MR, PS and Les Engagés - tabled a proposal in the Brussels Parliament to postpone the tightening of the low emission zone (LEZ) by two years.
They did this without consulting Van den Brandt, who called for the proposal to be retracted, but that demand was rejected. MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez even threatened to end the Good Move mobility plan in the coming weeks, which was the last straw for Groen.
Conciliator role
Ahidar will now try to relaunch discussions by speaking to five other Dutch-speaking parties in Brussels – Groen, Vooruit, Open VLD, N-VA and CD&V. “I want to act as a conciliator,” he said, adding “Groen must be part of the future majority” and the party “has to come back to the table”. “We should have been united from the beginning,” he said.
For Ahidar, the balance between the Dutch- and French-speaking sides needs to be restored. “Everyone will have to compromise,” he said. “There are for instance different opinions on the LEZ and the Good Move mobility plan.”
Team Fouad Ahidar was the big surprise of the 9 June elections in Brussels. The former socialist's party, which Ahidar founded this year, became the second-largest Dutch-speaking party in the capital. It received more than 16 per cent of the vote, winning three seats in its first electoral cycle.
Divide remains
Government formation negotiations on the Dutch-speaking side have been complicated from the start. Van den Brandt tried to form a majority with Open VLD, Vooruit and CD&V, but the problem was that there were only three minister positions and four parties.
A formula with Team Fouad Ahidar has until now not been a viable option because Open VLD and Vooruit oppose this. A coalition involving N-VA is another possibility but there is a large divide between Groen and N-VA.
Fouad Ahidar in Brussels, June 2024 © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT
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