Yvan Verougstraete, President of Les Engagés, has decided to break with the MR in Brussels in an attempt to set up a centre-left coalition bringing together PS, Ecolo, DéFI and Les Engagés on the French-speaking side, as well as Groen, Vooruit and CD&V on the Dutch-speaking side. This “Good Move coalition” would be formed without the leading French-speaking party, the MR, which nevertheless won 26% of the vote in the French-speaking electoral college and more than 100,000 votes in Brussels.
A coalition that denies the vote of Brussels residents
For the MR, this proposal is a major democratic failure, as it deliberately excludes the leading political force chosen by French-speaking voters. In the video, the MR President points out that denying this party any participation amounts to ignoring the will of more than a quarter of Brussels voters and weakening the legitimacy of the future government.
A responsibility poorly assumed
The MR stresses that the dramatic state of the region's finances, security, cleanliness, mobility and town planning is the result of political choices made precisely by several parties that would make up this left-wing coalition. Rather than acknowledging their mistakes and correcting course together with all responsible forces, these parties are now seeking to impose a new government without the MR, bypassing the clear message sent by the ballot box.
An elusive majority
Purely in arithmetical terms, the announced coalition currently has no majority in either the French-speaking or the Dutch-speaking college, as it is capped at 43 seats out of 89 and still needs to hope for the support of Open Vld and several independent representatives. Such an arrangement would leave the government at the mercy of constant pressure, whether from independents defending their personal interests or from groups pushing a communitarian agenda.
The MR's choice: fighting for Brussels
Faced with this reckless approach, the MR reaffirms that it will not resign itself to it. As the leading party in Brussels, it will continue to fight in Parliament to defend the voters who placed their trust in it, but also to put forward concrete solutions to give the Region a stable, serious government capable of pulling Brussels out of its current budgetary, security and institutional impasse. The goal remains clear: for Brussels' future to finally brighten, with a government that respects the citizens' vote and fully assumes its responsibilities.