Belgium (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Flemish nationalists and socialists support reducing MPs in the Flemish Parliament for efficiency, while Christian Democrats oppose it, fearing disadvantages for smaller parties.
The Flemish nationalists and the socialists like the idea, but the Christian Democrats don’t want to decrease the number of Flemish MPs. In 2019, the leader of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, Bart De Wever, came up with the idea to reduce the number of members in the Flemish Parliament. In the 2019-2014 term, the Flemish socialist party Vooruit proposed a motion in the Flemish parliament from the opposition side to cut down the number of MPs there.
Should Flanders Reduce Its Number of Parliamentarians?
N-VA and Vooruit think fewer MPs in the Flemish Parliament will make things run smoother and that Flanders currently has too many MPs for its population size. The Christian Democrats believe the plan is not a good idea because it could make it harder for smaller parties to get seats in the regional parliament. CD&V also doubts if cutting the number of MPs in the Flemish Parliament would make things more efficient or modernize how the parliament works.
