2024 was the year in which MR President Georges-Louis Bouchez silenced his many critics with a resounding election victory. He managed to win over almost 30% of Walloon voters, a political feat considered historic in French-speaking Belgium. Together with Les Engagés, the other big election winner, he formed a Walloon government. At federal level, he is a key player in the Arizona coalition talks led by formateur Bart De Wever (N-VA).
2024 was therefore a successful year for the President. Perhaps that's why we find a calmer man than usual. ‘GLB’ still has his famous two mobile phones, but they are set aside for almost the entire two-hour conversation. This is deliberate, Bouchez explains, the man known for tweeting faster than his own shadow. Even at the negotiating table. ‘Of all the negotiators, I'm the one who's least on his phone. I put the devices on another table and check every hour if there's anything urgent.’ Of course, the Walloon liberal will always remain a political fighter, that's in his nature. But the constant aggressiveness seems to have calmed down somewhat.
These are not our words, but those of the editors of the weekly magazine Knack. In a year-end interview, Georges-Louis Bouchez looks back on Belgian and international events in 2024.