MR members unanimously approved the regional and community policy declarations. Georges-Louis Bouchez and the entire MR team have been working tirelessly since the elections to establish a solid budgetary trajectory and to re-energise Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Reforms are under way because citizens had the courage to want change so their future can look brighter.
Speech by the President - Charleroi - Zénobe Gramme Hall
It really warms the heart, it warms the heart here, in the heart of Charleroi, to receive this applause, and this applause is for us today, but it is also for this victory, because it was the commitment of numerous candidates, 376 in total, the commitment of several thousand members, who keep growing in number, because I can tell you that today we have as many members as over the entire past year, which itself was already a rise compared with previous years.
And so, more and more, the Mouvement Réformateur is becoming that great people's party we wanted it to be. More and more, the Mouvement Réformateur is convincing, convincing in areas where we had not been present, convincing in areas where we were often told it was impossible. And before I present this government agreement to you, which is extremely ambitious, and of which you may already have seen some elements, I want to give you a message about the meaning of this victory.
This victory proves one thing: nothing is ever impossible. We often tend to say it almost to reassure ourselves. And today the facts are proving it, putting it into practice. But it will only be possible on one condition: the commitment of each and every one of us.
Within governments, within parliaments, at local level, and I will come back to that given the deadlines ahead of us, but also with each and every one of us. Because I tell you now: these next five years will be years on the ground. Because we will have to explain our efforts. We will have to gauge how people feel. We will have to convince those who are not yet convinced. We will also have to be able to show just how much the path we are giving Wallonia is the path of recovery. And so, yes, over the next five years it will not be enough to pass fine decrees. For those decrees to be implemented, for this desire for change, this hope we have awakened in the population, to be preserved, we must at all costs remain constantly present in the lives of our fellow citizens.
We will have to constantly keep alive this flame and this desire for change, because the main thing to remember is that we will not reform this region against the people. We will reform this region with the people, with the institutions, with the structures, because more than ever, our project is a project of hope, of development, of growth, which our fellow citizens have clearly chosen.
Our victory has sparked a positive feeling, a hope such as I believe we have never seen before. It is truly a weight that has been lifted. It is today this idea that Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, and soon Brussels, will no longer be looked down upon but instead will be seen as leading regions. Look, if you have the chance, at the Flemish press, read those headlines announcing the end of the PS state, the return of hope, this Wallonia finally entering the 21st century.
To achieve that, it will be necessary, I have done my work, but it will also be necessary not to falter, because of course, change always brings opposition.
But the aspiration is being felt. And why is it being felt? It is being felt because now, more than ever, is the moment for Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to put their budget right, to finally change their governance, to raise their employment rate, to allow for the reduction of the taxation that is stifling our fellow citizens today, to put an end to arbitrary favouritism, to allow harmonious development of the territory, to finally bring all our regions, whatever the province, to look to the future with enthusiasm and fervour.
That was our will when drafting this government agreement, these two government agreements, but more than that. These government agreements, and we will go into detail, are marked by one thing: the end of taboos. There must be no taboo in public administration. Our only objective must be the well-being of our fellow citizens. And I claim the intent of this agreement: it is in fact to make people happier, to make people more enthusiastic.
That is why this participation agreement is disruptive. But it is not disruptive in order to offend, shock or hinder. It is disruptive because Wallonia has all the assets needed to be a leading region in Europe. But today those assets are not being developed. Because those infamous taboos, that infamous dead weight, have weighed on our regions for too many years.
So today, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you one thing: abandon all your taboos, all your preconceptions, and simply tell yourselves that what we used to say quietly, you know, that little conversation where we say “Ah yes, but that's what should be done, but well, it's complicated, that's what should be said, but people aren't ready to hear it, that's what we should adopt”. But well, we're afraid of strikes. All these things, you must forget. Because today, ladies and gentlemen, tell yourselves this clearly: Wallonia and Brussels, the people who live there, the Walloons, the people of Brussels, they do not fear change, they are waiting for it.
And that change, we are the ones who will embody it! So, it is time, because it is extensive, to get to the heart of the matter, that is, the agreement on which you will have to vote is available in full on our website.
Presentation of the regional and community policy declarations
Approved unanimously!
Finally, I call on the political parties that could potentially join this government to stop hiding behind excuses and stop going round in circles.
No, waiting for the municipal elections is not an option. Waiting for the municipal elections is the choice of the irresponsible, when we know that Belgium will have to submit a budgetary trajectory to the European Commission by the end of September, and that Brussels today certainly has the most worrying trajectory.
So really, today I wanted to make use of this congress, and before I conclude, let me tell you what I have to say: to appeal to responsibility, let's stop the electoral games, let's get to work!