Leader of Flemish liberals resigns after less than a year
Eva De Bleeker has offered her resignation as leader of Flemish liberal party Open VLD. De Bleeker was the leader of the party, which has been performing increasingly poorly in the polls, for just under a year.
The former state secretary for the budget was elected leader of Open VLD last year. She had the difficult task of reforming the party internally and putting it back on the map after the heavy election defeat in June, when only 8.7 per cent of Flemish voters voted for the liberals.
It was a particularly painful result for the party of former prime minister Alexander De Croo and been part of the ruling coalition for 25 years. The party also lost ground almost everywhere in the local elections in October.
De Bleeker tried to get the party back on track, but Open VLD continued to score poorly in the polls. In the latest, Open VLD only just managed to pass the electoral threshold.
The party's entire renewal operation did not go smoothly either. The initial plan was to organise a founding congress on 13 September and launch a new party name at the same time. However, these plans were revised.
The new name will not be announced until June next year and the renewal congress has been renamed a “Festival of Ideas”.
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, De Bleeker said she had not been pushed to leave, saying: “This is my choice.” She believes she has succeeded in “reconnecting a deeply divided party”. According to her, it is unrealistic to expect a party to be back on its feet after just a year, and she wants to continue to play a role in the party's renewal.
New party leadership elections will take place in October. Frédéric De Gucht, who heads the local branch in Brussels, is her likely successor.
#FlandersNewsService | Eva De Bleeker of Open VLD © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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