Frédéric De Gucht named new leader of Open VLD
Frédéric De Gucht has been chosen as the new leader of Flemish liberal party Open VLD. As expected, he won comfortably, taking 91 per cent of the votes ahead of two relatively unknown candidates, Francis Uyttebroeck and Filip Walleyn.
De Gucht replaces Eva De Bleeker, who announced in August that she would be stepping down as leader after less than a year at the helm of the struggling party. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Karel, who was leader from 1999 to 2004.
He now faces the task of renewing the party, which suffered a crushing defeat in the national elections of June 2024. The plan is to come up with a renewed programme and a new name by the summer.
"Politics is not a solo game, politics is a team sport," he said in his speech at party headquarters in Brussels. "I don't win alone. We win together, vote by vote. And now we have a long road ahead of us, a road we will travel together, inch by inch."
As leader of Open VLD in Brussels, De Gucht gained prominence after the October 2024 local elections in his role as facilitator in the formation of the regional government.
"We have a long road ahead of us, a road we will travel together, inch by inch"
After Open VLD concluded a coalition agreement with Groen, Vooruit and N-VA, De Gucht insisted on the participation of N-VA when socialists PS vetoed the party, leading to deadlock.
The region is still without a government, and faces further turmoil after party colleague Sven Gatz announced he was stepping down as Budget minister for health reasons.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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