King Philippe appoints new negotiator to form government in Belgium

King Philippe has appointed a new negotiator to continue discussions on forming a government in Belgium, after the first round of talks failed, the Royal Palace of Belgium announced on August 23.

Bart De Wever, leader of the Belgian N-VA (New Flemish Alliance) party, arrives to meet King Philippe in Brussels. (Source: Reuters)

King Philippe has entrusted politician Maxime Prévot, leader of the centrist Les Engagés party, with the task of "mediating" between the five Belgian political parties that have expressed their willingness to form the Arizona coalition in July, following the June legislative elections. The new negotiator, 46, will report the results to King Philippe on September 2.

However, the negotiations could drag on even longer, which is not uncommon in a country accustomed to lengthy negotiations before forming a government.

The first round of talks led by N-VA (New Flemish Alliance) party leader Bart De Wever failed to reach any consensus and he decided to hand over the mandate to King Philippe on the evening of August 22.

In addition to Les Engagés and N-VA, three other parties have also agreed to take part in the talks, including the liberal Reform Movement (MR), which is the leader in the Brussels region and the French-speaking region of Wallonia, and the two parties of the Dutch-speaking community, the Christian Democrats (CD&V) and Vooruit (Forward, a centre-left social party), which represent the opposition.

The first talks, which began in July, hit a deadlock over taxes, with the French-speaking regional liberal parties opposing a capital gains tax proposed by the Vooruit party.

Belgium, with a budget deficit of 4.4% of GDP, is one of seven European countries facing proceedings for violating eurozone budget rules.

Despite the failure of the first talks, King Philippe summoned the parties to a new round of talks on August 23, ruling out the possibility of forming another coalition.

The June 9 legislative elections in Belgium, which coincided with the European Parliament elections, saw victories for the right and centre-right, with an unprecedented alliance between Wallonia (the French-speaking region in the south) and Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region in the north), where the traditional right is dominant.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/vua-philippe-chi-dinh-nha-dam-phan-moi-de-thanh-lap-chinh-phu-tai-bi-283704.html