There were 850 of them. Professor Carl Devos's political and social science students, who came to listen to Georges-Louis Bouchez's inaugural lecture at Ghent University. The MR President explained to them how the MR became a genuine popular party reaching 30%.
Georges-Louis Bouchez had not even finished his introductory thanks in Dutch when he was already interrupted by protests from left-wing anti-Israeli demonstrators who occupied the podium. To their great surprise, he handed them his microphone so they could express their point of view. He then responded by explaining his balanced position on the conflict between Israel and the terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah, stating that, in his view, every civilian casualty is one too many.
Importing the Middle East conflict into our country is now a well-known strategy of left-wing parties to avoid talking about their disastrous policies in Brussels and other major cities, while trying to gather votes among what they consider “communities”. This is called “communitarianism”, whereby the left divides people into groups and constantly forces them to accept so-called “reasonable accommodations” for religious reasons: wearing a headscarf behind a counter, slaughtering animals without stunning, separate swimming hours for women in public pools, or adapted meals in schools. Liberals do not want this. They see individuals as free people able to live, think, choose and succeed, regardless of their origin or religion.
In the hour that followed, the MR President spoke about the neutrality of the state, a principle according to which religious beliefs have no place in the neutral functioning of the state and its civil servants. He reiterated his call for employment, so that citizens can take charge of their own future and state revenues rise for greater prosperity. By cutting taxes and increasing net wages, Georges-Louis Bouchez wants to better reward working people. Belgium is the country with the highest taxes in the world. And when it comes to capital taxation, our country is also among the top three in Europe. In the next tax reform, we therefore do not need a tax shift, but a genuine tax cut. No one should have to give more than 50% of their earned income to the state.