It was in a warm and resolutely forward-looking atmosphere that the MR's New Year reception took place on Friday 10 January in Libramont, in Luxembourg province.
From the opening, delivered by Laurence Crucifux, Mayor of Libramont-Chevigny, the focus was on the enthusiasm felt in Luxembourg province throughout the previous election campaigns.
This message was reinforced by the address of Benoit Piedboeuf, President of the Luxembourg Provincial Federation and MP-Mayor of Tintigny, who stressed the importance of team spirit in continuing the progress already made and facing future challenges.
The youth message resonated strongly through the address of Mathilde Otjacques, President of the Young MR federation of Luxembourg province and President of the CPAS in Libramont-Chevigny, accompanied by Cyprien Cachbach, municipal councillor in Bouillon. They stressed that their generation is ready to take up the torch and innovate.
Next, Willy Borsus, President of the Walloon Parliament, recalled the importance of defending and strengthening democracy in an uncertain context. His speech highlighted renewed confidence in the actions of the Walloon Government, notably thanks to progress already visible in key areas such as education.
The evening concluded with an address by Georges-Louis Bouchez, President of the MR, who highlighted in particular the efforts made in the federal negotiations, the conclusion of which is hoped for, in order to consolidate our political project and deliver tangible results for the population.
Watch the full speech by Georges-Louis Bouchez below
2024 will remain a landmark year in the history of our political movement. But beyond that, the election result gives French-speaking Belgium an entirely new political landscape.This political landscape can be summed up in two major blocs. On one side, you have reasonable people, people who believe in progress, who have confidence in the future, who respect democracy. These people today make up the majority in the Walloon government. And as you've understood, I'm talking on one side about Les Engagés and on the other about the Mouvement Réformateur.
Facing this bloc is "defiant" Belgium, which stretches from the PTB to Ecolo, with the socialist party in between. I have always found it very odd that people who advocate freedom of speech want to practise censorship. That proves one thing: they are not liberals.
And of course the socialist party, which today is unfortunately afflicted with a sort of Tourette's syndrome, because every time you disagree with the PS, they have three words: Trump, populist, far right. We will be neither extremist nor communitarian.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, beyond freedom of expression, the difference between this bloc and us is that we do not consider it useful, let alone desirable, to flatter certain minorities in order to win elections. We believe that all our fellow citizens must be respected in the same way, must be considered on an equal footing, and above all must follow the same rules and share the same values.
That is why religion must stay at home.
That is why, if we want to build a society, we must instead strengthen our shared values. These shared values are those of liberal democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and equality between men and women.
But it is also the rejection of religious symbols in public administration. It is the rejection of religious influence on animal welfare. It is the rejection of importing conflicts from outside our country.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I say it proudly before you, and I ask you to carry with full conviction the message that today, the only party of living together, the only party that allows the women and men of our country to flourish, the only party that stands today as a bulwark against both the far left and the far right, is the Mouvement Réformateur.
These differences are also reflected in a key element, to recall what previous speakers said. It is the value of work.
Because, ladies and gentlemen, in all the reforms we will carry out, we will be supportive, but not clientelist. Because we believe that the only true social policy is not one that hands out cheques, not one that gives a small subsidy, not one that puts a crutch in your mouth.
It is one that provides a job. It is one that gives you the tools to take charge of your own life. It is one that supports you, that helps you up when you fall, but that frees you, that ensures the state does not permanently control your life. That is why the reform of FOREM led by Pierre-Yves Jeholet will certainly be one of the most important reforms of the next five years.
We will also reform vocational training. We will ensure that inactivity is no longer a choice. Above all, we will ensure, and this is the aim of the federal negotiations, that work always pays more than inactivity.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we won the elections last June, we know that our message on work was one of the driving factors. So today, as Adrien Dolimont said, we are moving to action. We will carry out the reforms so that work finally pays in Belgium.
One might think that the last theme perhaps resonates less in a province like Luxembourg, that it might matter less in rural areas.
Those who say that know the area poorly, because this last theme is the question of security. Because yes, we will be security-focused and not lax, I dare say the word.
Today, in municipalities bordering Luxembourg province. Whether it's drug trafficking or smuggling undocumented people across, these are sources of crime that create constraints, or worse, in life, in your daily life, in the life of our fellow citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen, this security issue must translate both into police presence and support for our police forces, here and everywhere across the territory.
The same goes for firefighters, paramedics, all those who watch over our safety. There is no question of viewing burnt-out cars on New Year's Eve simply as, as some said in the Chamber yesterday, a blurring of the norm. It is not a blurring of the norm to shoot at police officers.
It is not a blurring of the norm to damage public property. It is not a blurring of the norm to physically attack people.
These are serious violations of the law. And like any serious violation of the law, they must be punished.
Because the argument that we must focus on prevention, that we should understand when we see certain people living in difficult socio-economic conditions, that argument has become untenable.
For 40 years, this narrative has driven our country's policy. But let me tell you something. Today, you are not unhappier because you live in a Brussels neighbourhood than the son of a farmer in Luxembourg province. You are not better off in terms of future prospects, income or hope just because you come from a so-called difficult neighbourhood, compared to a young person from a rural province who also has questions about their future, who also faces economic difficulties. All this to tell you that no circumstance excuses breaking the law. Whether in terms of policing, but also and above all in terms of justice, which must punish, which must stop constantly finding excuses, as well as in terms of reintegration through work, the Mouvement Réformateur will make security a fundamental priority.
Because all the women and men of our country must be able to move around everywhere, at any time, in complete safety. Now you might say this sounds almost like a campaign speech. But this message must be carried every day.
And it is addressed to you, of course. But it is also and above all addressed to the ministers and MPs of the Mouvement Réformateur. Because we must not forget why we were elected. Because every day, when we make a decision, we must remember our core principles.
Because you know, the political system is so steeped in habits that making these reforms, these deep reforms, is not so simple.
There are technical implementation constraints. But above all there is one constraint stronger than all the others.
It is the constraint of habit. It's what we say in my region: "we've always done it this way". That constraint is the hardest.
Because breaking with this habit means breaking with your own comfort. It means breaking with routines. And that is often the hardest thing for political men and women. It means telling yourself that you're going to change, that you're going to do something you've never done before. And that change is already under way.
It is already under way at the level of the Walloon government, with the first tax cut in Wallonia's history. The 3% registration fee for a first purchase, the halving of inheritance tax by the end of the term. These changes are structural, because Wallonia, faced with these difficulties, will not do what is usually done, always more and more taxes. On the contrary, we will lower taxation to unleash energies. We will make sure that the women and men who work in this country are better rewarded. We will also make sure that those who want to work are better supported. These reforms are also already under way in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. In particular, I would like to pause for a moment on education. You hear a lot today about schools. The reality is that unease in schools has been growing for more than 20 years.
Because for just over 20 years, teachers' administrative burden has kept increasing. For just over 20 years there has been a crisis of authority in schools, where the pupil sometimes tells the teacher what to do, where parents all believe they have a genius, certainly affected by hyperactivity or such a superior intellectual level compared to the average that he's bored in class, you understand. Today we have turned unruly pupils into geniuses.
And some parents believed they could take the place of teachers. For just over 20 years, these grand ideas have led to a gradual decline in pupils' level.
So today, it's been 5 months since Valérie Glatigny took charge of the Ministry of Education. And the unions aren't waking up. One gets the impression that the school has only had problems for 5 months. For years, they went along with this long decline. And today, suddenly nothing would be possible anymore.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to address in particular the teachers in this room, and the head teachers. And I am sure that many of them placed their trust in us in the last elections. We will keep our promises. We have already begun restoring authority in classrooms. We have already begun reducing the administrative burden. And we will also work to make schools more efficient.
To do this, we will change habits. We will carry out reforms that are far-reaching. And we know it, these reforms will certainly stir up fears, sometimes discontent.
Why? Because education is actually just like football. Everyone has an opinion on the team line-up and on how the matches should be played. Because school is that particular competence with which everyone has a relationship.
You have all been to school. You may have children, grandchildren at school. You may be a teacher yourself.
But school affects the entire population. That is why reforming it is so sensitive. But just because it is sensitive doesn't mean we won't do it.
Because today it is a major necessity. Education reform is the mother of all other reforms.
Because it is through school that we give young people the tools to take charge of their own lives. Because it is through school that we heal society.
Because it is through school that we shape citizens. So, and I extend my hand to the union tonight, we want to carry out these reforms with them. We want to carry them out with the teachers, we want to carry them out with the school leaderships.
But if the unions prefer to be the armed wing of a few political groups of insubordinate Belgium, rather than support this desire and this need for change, I also want to tell them that we will not change course. That the waves will be high, that the sea will be rough,
but that despite everything we will go all the way. We will go all the way, not from an electoral point of view, but because we are convinced that these reforms are essential, that it is one minute to midnight, and above all that our young people deserve a better-quality school, that our teachers deserve more support, that our society deserves an education system that is no longer sick.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to support Valérie Glatigny. We will give you the information, we will hold debates, we will meet with the stakeholders. But I really ask you to stand firm, because it is through school that we prepare the future.
The future is brightening, that was our campaign promise. And that future can brighten when we put the child back at the heart of school concerns.
And when we make sure that all children, in the third year of primary school, can read, write and count.
That all children leaving school will have a diploma. That this school will once again be the place of emancipation and equal opportunity.
Then you'll tell me, there are two other governments still being formed. A government in Brussels. You might ask me, what's the point of talking about the formation of a Brussels government in the province of Luxembourg? But I tell you it is fundamental. Because Brussels is our capital.
Brussels is our calling card abroad. Brussels is an economic engine for the country.
Yet today, what do we see? We see a Brussels government formation blocked by the Socialist Party and their left-wing friends. Because they believe the greatest danger to Brussels, ladies and gentlemen, would be the two N-VA MPs who would join the Flemish majority. So I have a question for you: in your view, is the greatest danger to Brussels those two N-VA MPs, or the thugs who burn cars on Christmas Eve?
Do you think the greatest danger to Brussels is those two N-VA MPs, or the bottomless deficit of the Brussels region, which today is the worst deficit among all public bodies in the country? Do you think the greatest danger to Brussels is those two N-VA MPs, or the dramatically low employment rate, the destroyed social cohesion, the increasingly present communitarianism?
Today, the greatest danger to Brussels is inaction. It is the inability of part of the Brussels political class to take the fate of our capital region into their own hands. So I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, you may know him a little less well in this part of the country, but truly, just as I ask you to support all our ministers, support David Leisterh.
Really try to carry the message. Make sure to give him the energy. Because if there is one person fighting for Brussels today, it's David.
If there is a political movement capable of turning our capital around, it's the Mouvement Réformateur. And turning Brussels around means turning Belgium around.
Now, the last government, that one is certainly unexpected. People always have this idea that the federal government is somehow the father of all other governments. That's not institutionally the case, but it's true that the federal government deals with matters that are fundamental for each and every one of us. So this federal government, you've been waiting for it a long time. And I imagine you want it quickly.
But I also know you don't want higher taxes.
I also know you don't want to penalise the women and men who work even more than is already the case today.
I also know you don't want to penalise entrepreneurs.
I also know you want the competitiveness of our businesses to be safeguarded.
Because today, and we must be aware of this, we are living in a much more complex world than yesterday. American politics will have an influence on the European economic situation. Pressure and competition from China will be harder than ever.
The challenge of the war in Ukraine disrupts our interests. So yes, today all of Europe faces a colossal challenge to its autonomy, its security, but also its economic development. Across this Europe, Belgium faces exactly the same challenges, perhaps even worse. Because we have historical handicaps in terms of energy prices or labour costs greater than our neighbours.
Let's talk about our neighbours, whether France or Germany, the two great engines of the European Union today face political, industrial and economic difficulties that are deadly dangers for Belgium. They are our two main trading partners. And when the German machine starts to cough, all of Europe falls ill.
That is why, in this government formation, purchasing power will need to be given back to our fellow citizens, but businesses will also need to be freed.
The administrative burden will need to be reduced. Taxation and social security contributions will need to come down.
The State will need to help businesses develop rather than constrain them. Above all, it will be necessary to ensure that all the women and men who work in this country, the workers, are better rewarded than those who could work but choose inactivity. Above all, it will be necessary to carry out the essential reforms in this country, to have the courage to break with the paralysis that has been eating away at Belgium for far too many years now.
So, ladies and gentlemen, yes, we are working with the federal government. This agreement is progressing, it is being built every day.
It must not be reached at any price.
Concessions will of course have to be made.
But I want to tell you, we will not be able to make concessions on the elements that made our election. The voters' signal was clear on work.
It was clear on energy. It was clear on security.
So compromises, yes. Sell-outs, no. Because the Mouvement Réformateur will certainly do something quite particular when you look at and follow politics: we will keep our promises. And so even if it has to take a week or two longer, we will take that time.
Because today, if we want to be worthy and live up to the hope we have raised, it is by being courageous that we can do it.
It is by implementing the reforms that we will be able to honour our mandate. Because the greatest danger for us, ladies and gentlemen, would be that in 5 years we had not carried out the reforms. That is the greatest risk. And so we must not choose the easy path. We must not choose comfort.
But I tell you, and I repeat it, the one true party of work is the MR. And this will show.
That will show up in the government's decisions, it is already showing in the government formation. We will have a reform government in line with citizens' expectations. So, I don't want to speak too long because this is also a moment of conviviality, but I would like to say a few words about our political movement. Because yes, last June, for the first time in history, we came out as the leading political force in Wallonia in the regional elections.
For the first time in history, we became the leading political force in Brussels, without a cartel, standing alone as a general movement.
That is a major change. But I don't want this to be an enchanted parenthesis. The MR must remain durably the leading French-speaking political force. For two reasons. The first is that these reforms will be adopted quickly, but it will take time to implement them.
The second is that once these reforms are adopted, we do not want them to be challenged by insubordinate Belgium and its 50 shades of the left. So, to remain the leading political force, we will have to keep being on the ground every day.
That is why, starting in February, the Mouvement Réformateur will launch a major tour across the provinces of Wallonia, but also Flanders and Brussels, to explain our reforms, and also to listen to you.
Because as I said, the course is clear, the implementation details can only be worked out with those on the ground. We will listen, we will adjust, we will explain. That is why your mobilisation will be essential.
I know you mobilised strongly in 2024. In 2025, we will need to do the same.
We will even need to do more. Because in 2024, I told you, when I came here, that we had to mobilise.
We had to mobilise for the party. In 2025 it will be even more exciting. Because we will be mobilising for the country.
So, ladies and gentlemen, you will have to carry this project. Because it is not the ministers among themselves who will carry out the reforms.
It is each and every one of us. We will have to go out into the field, feed back this information from the ground.
We will also have to invest in our think tank.
We will have to keep creating new ideas that are in step with this world, which is changing at an unprecedented speed in the history of eternity.
We will have to be the reference point, the compass for all the men and women of goodwill in our country who believe in democracy and who want to give their children a future.
So, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the evening.
But from tomorrow, we're back out on the ground.
Because a great popular movement like the MR doesn't only show up during elections. It is there all the time.
And I really want to salute all our local elected representatives who are on the front line, who have daily contact, who are our first ambassadors.
So in 2025, be more proud than ever of the liberals.
And don't forget, with the MR, the future is brightening!