De Wever negotiates revised supernote amid coalition discontent and challenges

Lailuma Sadid
Credit: Belga/Jonas Roosens

Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): The negotiations between the different parties grind to an end as the new version of the supernote fails to address all issues that various stakeholders have raised. De Wever is aimed at coming up with a comprehensive scheme with the view of constituting an effective government.

Wednesdays lunch meeting was called off because the people involved were not pleased with the new plan to help everyone out. They were of the opinion that the plan had not done good work considering and meeting all their different needs and worries. It was canceled so more work could be done on the plan and things could be talked over. It shows how tricky it can get to please everyone and how important it is to devise some program that will satisfy everyone. 

Is De Wever’s revised supernote sufficient for coalition negotiations?

During his week off De Wever had managed to come up with a new version of this important document called the supernote which helps in setting up a new government by designating what kinds of policies and plans they would like to pursue in their tenure. De Wever had changed the note to make sure that it looked after the worries and important things for all parties that make up the coalition. He wanted to come up with a fair and inclusive plan that would be able to match all these parties on things that matter to them, hence making the formation of government easier. The super note only covered taxes, jobs and pensions.  Some of the parties involved in these discussions think that this version was inadequate to keep dialogue going. They could argue that their major anxieties surrounding taxation labour and social security were not reflected on the note. This makes it difficult for parties to embark on effective talks based on that.  He has had to revise the paper such that it can meet everyones demands and expectations.


The old super note focused on subjects like taxation, employment and pensions. While some of those engaged in negotiations have claimed that it was not enough to further negotiations.  This merely meant that their main anxieties regarding taxes, jobs or pensions were left unaddressed by this note. This situation is making it impossible for any party to make a substantive start along these lines. To this end De Wever has been forced to amend his text with a view to emulating coalition members preferences and needs.

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Lailuma Sadid is a former diplomat in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Embassy to the kingdom of Belgium, in charge of NATO. She attended the NATO Training courses and speakers for the events at NATO H-Q in Brussels, and also in Nederland, Germany, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. Sadid has is a former Political Reporter for Pajhwok News Agency, covering the London, Conference in 2006 and Lisbon summit in 2010.
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