On 7 January, the MR invited its members to a convivial New Year gathering.
The ceremony was opened by David Clarinval, whose introduction highlighted the challenges ahead while restating the MR's core values: freedom, responsibility and a spirit of initiative. His speech emphasised the importance of liberal action rooted in closeness to citizens and local engagement.
The floor was then given to Samuel Meurisse, President of the Young MR in Namur City. He stressed the positive energy that the Young MR wants to bring to its projects, notably through greater youth participation in political life and the organisation of local actions.
Niels Adnet, First Alderman of the City of Dinant and President of the Young MR Haute-Meuse, continued in the same vein, recalling the importance of intergenerational dynamism and the necessary cooperation between different local branches.
Minister-President Adrien Dolimont then spoke to present a broader vision of government priorities and outline prospects for the coming year. In a speech both ambitious and realistic, he addressed current economic and social challenges while affirming his confidence in the MR's ability to respond pragmatically.
To close the evening, Georges-Louis Bouchez, President of the MR, thanked all participants for their presence and reaffirmed the Movement's commitment to a constructive policy geared towards progress and innovation. His closing speech, both unifying and optimistic, highlighted the importance of collective commitment and invited everyone to continue their involvement.
This gathering in Namur once again demonstrates the vitality and dynamism driving the MR. More than a simple New Year ceremony, the event brought together the party's active forces around a shared project: building a freer, more united and fairer society.
Find below the full speech by the President
Thank you, thank you very much for your warm welcome. In Ciney, we're always well received.In fact, it was here, although not in this room, it was a bit bigger, since we were at Ciné Expo, that we held the congress which launched our victorious municipal campaign. So I tell myself this place must bring luck. So take advantage of it if you have a wish to make.
It's the occasion, it's the season for it. But first of all, thank you indeed for your support and also for your presence, once again numerous this evening to start this year.
This year, which is not a year like any other, since last year I promised you victory.
This year, I tell you that it is the year of duty.
Of duty, because this electoral victory, these electoral victories, oblige us at every level of government to finally carry out the reforms that Belgium expects, that Wallonia expects, as well as the Brussels-Capital Region.
At the end of these elections, I could tell you that there is a major change, namely the Mouvement Réformateur as the leading political force, the fact that the forces of the left are losing ground, but I think the greatest lesson of these elections is the formation of two large blocs in our country, at least on the French-speaking side.
These blocs are made up, on one side, of people from the centre to the right who are reasonable, who look to the future, who want reforms, who want to work with each other's strengths, people who have confidence.
I'm of course talking about the coalition formed alongside Adrien Dolimont, at the level of the Walloon Government, between Les Engagés on one side and the Mouvement Réformateur on the other.
Facing this bloc, we finally find this defiant Belgium, you know, in reference to Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France, made up of the PS, the Greens and now the PTB.
Do not underestimate how dangerous this bloc is today for our country.
Dangerous economically, we already knew that, but also dangerous when it comes to social cohesion or security issues.
This bloc consists, as I said, of the PS; one no longer really knows who is chasing whom, whether it's the PS chasing the PTB, the PTB chasing Ecolo, Ecolo trying to outbid the other two.
It seems that, to solve the problem, the PS is going to launch a major refounding movement. So they're going to rack their brains, after having dug up the deficits.
That will at least be better for your wallet, but I would like to tell them that the differences between us are major and that the insult so often used cannot hide them, and our fellow citizens were not mistaken.
Because indeed, we will be neither extremist, nor, certainly, communitarian.
We will not, like this left, accept every compromise of our values to please a few minorities who are viewed not with respect, but simply as electoral cattle.
We will not bend on the issue of equality between men and women.
We will not bend on the major issue of state neutrality.
And when I speak about this on a day like today, it takes on a very particular meaning.
We will never compromise on freedom of expression, which is also the right to shock, even the right to blaspheme.
We will never give in on the values of living together.
And for this social cohesion to succeed, we must stop emphasising individuals' particularities.
We must instead uphold the values of liberal democracy that unite us.
So yes, today marks ten years since cartoonists paid for these freedoms with their lives.
So let's not think that these small everyday arrangements, such as the fact that certain topics can no longer be discussed in schools, or that religious symbols are now permitted after a century and a half of fighting to keep religion at home, let's not believe these small things are reasonable accommodations. On the contrary, they are major surrenders of our societal model, and above all a great danger to social cohesion, and today, before you, I want to say it: the only possible way of living together, that of liberal democracy, is the one defended by the Mouvement Réformateur.
We will of course be supportive, believing that the best social policy is the one that gives everyone a job. But we will certainly not be clientelistic.
Yes, there needs to be order restored in our country's social policies. Yes, it will be necessary, and it will be one of the most important reforms, to completely transform the Forem and rethink the entire vocational training landscape.
Because as I said, we must stop taking people by the hand to support them their whole lives.
We must give them the tools to take charge of their own lives. Because I am convinced, and that is why I am a liberal, that every individual wants to make something of their life.
We certainly won the elections on this theme of work.
Now we must make the changes. And these reforms will not please everyone.
They will not please everyone because we are going to move certain people out of their comfort zone.
We will above all break the rent-seeking on which certain structures today rely, which ultimately live off the business of unemployment or poverty.
Imagine that we had to bail out the trade unions from the federal government because there were no longer enough unemployed people in our country.
Do we realise that the number of jobseekers has become a business model for certain structures?
Do we realise today that vocational training does not necessarily aim, for some, at finding a job, but simply at passing the time?
These reforms we will have to carry out, because that is what is expected of us. Because the great difference between a liberal and the others is that the liberal trusts the individual.
It is that the liberal wants to make sure that you can take charge of your own life, so that at the end of it, you can tell yourself you made something of it.
Because a liberal believes there is no happy society without work. So we will carry these values loud and clear, both at regional and at federal government level.
I also wanted to tell you that we will be security-focused, and I dare use the word, not lax.
Because today we live in a country where police officers spend more time justifying their work than we have the ability to punish offenders.
Because today, dozens of cars are burned on New Year's Eve in Brussels, and it's almost considered normal.
Because today there is a whole series of people who have been sentenced to prison terms, but we are told we should release them, because apparently there isn't enough space.
43% of our inmates, ladies and gentlemen, are not Belgian nationals.
So I want to tell you one thing. Our country is a welcoming country.
We will reach out to all women and men who wish to come to this country to work, to contribute to its development, because the liberal movement is a deeply tolerant movement.
But there is no tolerance for those who come here to commit criminal acts.
Nor is it acceptable that repeat offenders can still be released after serving a third of their sentence.
It is not acceptable to accept every offence on the basis that there might be excuses.
No, ladies and gentlemen, there is no social situation that can justify criminal acts.
Because there are also such people in this room; in society, there are millions of people who, at some point in their lives, face difficulties.
That doesn't mean they go around destroying bus shelters, it doesn't mean they attack others, it doesn't mean they start stealing.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you: in the context of these federal negotiations, strengthening the judicial arsenal, support for the police, for firefighters, for all the women and men who watch over our safety, will be a non-negotiable element.
Because with the Mouvement Réformateur, every citizen must be able to feel safe at any time and in any place.
You will tell me this speech has the tone of an election campaign. Let me reassure you, there's no vote this year.
But you must never abandon your campaigning tone. Why?
Because this speech today, beyond addressing the population, is above all addressed to all MPs and all ministers of the Mouvement Réformateur.
Because we must never lose sight of the reason why we were elected, so that every day we can work to implement these reforms.
And so no, we must not change our tone. On the contrary, we must reform.
We must put it into practice every day.
We must warn our population, but also our opponents, that electoral victory has not triggered in us the amnesia so common in the political world on election night.
We know why we were elected and we know what we must do every day.
That is why, as Adrien mentioned, the Walloon Government has already launched major reforms, including the first tax cut in the history of Wallonia.
Never before in Wallonia had taxes been cut. Just imagine that.
Those taxes were like a rocket, always heading into space.
We used Elon Musk's system to bring the rocket back down.
And we will keep trying to bring it down a little further still.
Because today we need to unleash energy. We must stop weighing things down.
I mentioned earlier the reforms of the FOREM.
We will also carry out reforms in the field of agriculture.
We will carry out reforms for major administrative simplification.
You were thousands who answered the call made by Maxime Prévost and myself to simplify Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
We will also carry these reforms forward at the level of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, particularly regarding education.
And I wanted to tell Valérie Glatigny tonight just how much she has our full support.
Today, for 20 years, education has been subjected to ever more administrative burden, has seen pupils’ levels decline daily, has seen teachers and school leaders left alone in the face of violent behaviour or, at the very least, daily disrespect.
Today, we are going to fix that.
So I would like to speak in particular to teachers and school leaders.
Because I can already see the unions mobilising.
I read the leaflets being distributed.
Leaflets full of lies.
Today, there is genuine discontent in education.
But it is not the result of Valérie Glatigny.
It is not Valérie Glatigny’s arrival five months ago that created this discontent.
It is the result of twenty years of poor management.
So yes, we will have to reform.
Yes, we will correct certain aspects of the Pact for Excellence in Teaching.
Yes, we will restore authority.
But let teachers and school leaders accept this outstretched hand.
Let them not be afraid.
These reforms will aim to improve education, to put the pupil at the heart of the education system.
And I say this to the trade union organisations too.
We want to carry out these reforms together with each of them. We are extending our hand.
But if the unions prefer to play into the hands of certain political parties by acting as the armed wing of the left, whether the PTB, the Greens or the PS, that will not deter us from our objectives.
What the left lost at the ballot box, it will not win back on the streets.
The course is clear and even if the waves are high, the course will not change.
We will reform for quality education.
Today, you will say, there are still two governments that have not been formed.
That of the Brussels Region. You may think it strange that I speak to you about forming the Brussels government here, in the province that houses the capital of the Walloon Region.
But bear this in mind: if Brussels is doing badly, the whole country is sick.
Brussels is an economic engine for the whole of Belgium.
Brussels is an international showcase.
Brussels is Belgium’s calling card to the world, particularly through its status as the seat of numerous international organisations.
You may have seen the Parti Socialiste explaining that it is impossible to join a Brussels government because N-VA would be part of the Flemish majority.
It's been only ten years that the PS has been negotiating with N-VA, you might say.
For more than two years over the past ten years, they negotiated. They negotiated government agreements.
And today we are told that two N-VA MPs, which is their total number, would be a danger for Brussels.
But don't you think that the real danger for Brussels is those dozens of people who set cars on fire on New Year's Eve?
It is those people who deal drugs in plain sight, in municipalities like Anderlecht, like Molenbeek, at the entrances to train stations.
Don't you think the danger for Brussels is religious radicalism?
Don't you think Brussels' problem is its bottomless budget deficit?
And I urge you to pay attention to this, because the Brussels budget deficit could well drag down the other entities of the country, including Wallonia, but also the federal government.
Isn't the real problem for Brussels today its employment rate?
Isn't it its mobility?
So tonight, I really ask you, as Walloons, to support our elected representatives in Brussels, and David Leisterh in particular.
Because he is today the only one fighting to find a solution for our capital region.
And I know you love our country, and everyone who loves our country also loves its capital.
So, ladies and gentlemen, we will do everything possible, we will take every risk, but we will not abandon the capital, and we will restore to Brussels the standing our capital deserves!
There is another government I hear less about, and it's rather striking that people often talk more about those who are absent.
Everyone is talking to me right now about the federal government.
So I'm sure you want a federal government. But do you want to pay more taxes?
If you had wanted to pay more taxes, we could easily have formed the federal government five months ago.
Today, the whole crux of the discussion revolves around this. Some tell us it would be a tax transfer, others that we need to contribute more.
So there's that infamous wealth tax file. But what is a rich person?
Is a rich person someone who owns a second property?
Is a rich person someone who runs their own SME?
Is a rich person someone who has a company car today?
Is a rich person someone who has a benefit in kind or two, a phone, a computer?
Is a rich person someone who today earns €4,000 or €5,000 net per month in a household?
I don't believe it.
I believe that today we must help all workers in our country, from those earning €1,200 to those earning above that.
Today, above all, we must,
In the most heavily taxed country in the world, stop trying to invent new taxes.
One day, Santa Claus won't want to come anymore because someone will get the idea of taxing his reindeer.
That's where we've got to.
You can't imagine the imagination at the negotiating table for taxing all kinds of economic behaviour.
Sometimes they have explanations, I didn't even know this behaviour existed.
But they identified it, they told themselves it should also be taxed.
We are, ladies and gentlemen, the most heavily taxed country in the world.
We collect more than €330 billion in public money every year, from the municipal to the federal level.
That's 57% of GDP.
And yes, I confirm it,
No matter what a certain activist economist from Namur may say, today the richest 10% in our country pay 50% of the tax.
And anyone who wants to verify this can go to Statbel, the official statistics office, which will show you that the top decile pays 50% of the tax.
What does that mean?
It means that in Belgium, taxation is already very progressive.
And that instead of creating new taxes, we should think about lowering them.
We must lower them for the women and men who work.
And I repeat it here,
There will be no government agreement without a tax cut for the women and men who work.
Because it was our campaign pledge to better reward women and men who work.
And I'm told that compromises must be made.
I am ready to make many, but not on essential values.
I am also not prepared to compromise on the competitiveness of our businesses.
This is a subject strongly championed by David Clarinval, our Deputy Prime Minister, your federation president.
But today our companies pay more for their energy.
Labour costs are also higher.
Administrative burdens are heavier.
At the same time, our main trading partners, Germany and France, are facing significant difficulties.
And what are we going to do?
Increase taxes on these structures even further?
Because you're told they're rich people.
To me, entrepreneurs, and SME owners in particular, are not rich people, they are engines of our society.
They create jobs, they create activity, they pay taxes, they enable solidarity to keep functioning.
And so we must not pit bosses against workers.
Bosses and workers are links in the same chain, and it is that chain which drives Belgium forward.
So, ladies and gentlemen, we made commitments during the campaign and I will not betray them.
And so, with the Mouvement Réformateur, we will have a government, but we will have a government that lowers the tax burden on those who keep our country running.
This federal formation will also have to ensure
putting our country back on the map, breaking with a whole series of taboos, aligning our unemployment rules with the rest of the European countries, ensuring that genuinely sick people are better supported and cared for, while imaginary sick people, because they do exist, are sanctioned, and fake certificates disappear.
We will have to ensure that our fellow citizens regain confidence in the effectiveness of the State.
Because, ladies and gentlemen, I won't lie to you, why are taxes so high in our country?
Because the State isn't efficient enough?
Because there are too many public structures?
But also because the State wants to concern itself with too many things?
Imagine, in Flanders, they've just invented a €250 voucher to encourage Flemish people to choose certain more energy-efficient fridges.
Do we realise what kind of world we're living in?
The State is even going to concern itself with the fridge you buy.
How can you expect to lower taxes if the State has to pay for every initiative?
So yes, if we want a more efficient State, that State will also have to focus on its essential tasks.
Guaranteeing security, providing quality education for everyone, guaranteeing solidarity, but putting an end to the gimmicks.
We must stop the little subsidies, the little vouchers.
which generally make for a nice press article, but which you pay for two or three times over through your taxes.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will carry out reforms that will hurt.
We will carry out fair reforms.
We will carry out reforms for a more efficient Belgium.
We will carry out reforms to lighten the burden of the State, because liberals don't want more State, they want better State!
So, one last word to talk to you about our political movement.
To thank you first for the 2024 election victory, but also to assure you that this election victory must not be a fleeting moment of magic.
We must remain the leading French-speaking political force in the long term, because these reforms will take time.
Because if we're reforming our country, it's not to allow others to bring back bad habits a few years later.
Because fundamentally, I am convinced, we are convinced, that the liberal project is what Belgium needs.
That is why, in the coming months, we will strengthen our study centre.
And I invite you all to take part in the discussion, to bring your expertise, because you all have expertise.
You have the most important expertise, that of your life experience, your skills, the job you do every day, the situations you go through.
We will also launch a tour starting in February through all the provinces of Wallonia, but also Flanders and Brussels, to explain our policies, to listen to you.
Because as I said earlier, the course is clear.
The reforms, we will carry them out.
But their implementation will of course be left open to your reflection, to your contributions.
Because we cannot reform alone, we must reform together with you, so that these reforms are truly effective.
We will also, in the coming weeks, strengthen our roots in civil society.
We will be by your side on a whole series of initiatives. We will go to the town squares, we will go wherever people are.
Because we mustn't only go out during election campaigns. The role of a great popular movement like the Mouvement Réformateur is to stand by our fellow citizens every day.
And I would especially like to address and thank our local elected representatives, because they are our first ambassadors. Every day, keep us informed.
Ask us. We will send you all the information.
We will be present on the ground. That will be the case for all MR MPs, and for the ministers too.
So in 2024, I told you the year would be intense. But 2025 will be even better.
Because in 2024, I asked you to work for the party. In 2025, we're going to work for the country.
So I wish you an excellent 2025. And don't forget, with the MR, the future is bright!