Brussels (Brussels Morning) – N-VA leader Bart De Wever met with King Philippe to examine the progress of forming the Federal Government. The King designated De Wever (N-VA) as “preformator”, the Royal Palace reported afterwards.
What Role Does Bart De Wever Hold in Belgium’s Government Formation?
After a 1.5-hour-long talk during which De Wever submitted his final statement to King Philippe, the N-VA leader quit the Palace with a new role in the formation process: preformator. This role is supposed to be between his previous position as an informator and his likely next appointment as formator of the Federal Government. The change in position indicates that the King recognised that De Wever has made significant progress as an informator but that he regards it as still too early to start the formation negotiations properly.
De Wever produced the exact final report to the leaders of the other parties with which he wants to form a majority: Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés. On Wednesday morning, it became apparent that while Flemish socialist Vooruit and French-speaking centrist Les Engagés are both willing to examine their possible participation in the government, they are not yet equipped to start real formation talks.
Vooruit, for example, only seated around the table with De Wever to examine the Federal Government once, even though tough decisions and important steps must still be made before the socialists decide to join an otherwise centre-right government. The King also feels that the time is not yet ripe to commence formation discussions.
What Challenges Does De Wever Face in Forming Belgium’s Government?
As a preformator, De Wever can now work differently: for example, he will be able to meet with more parties together at one table (instead of receiving them all separately). If a preformator is selected (which doesn’t always happen but can when the appearance negotiations take longer than initially hoped), they are in charge of meetings to draft a coalition agreement with the other party leaders who are open to creating a majority. Once such a draft agreement has been drawn up, the preformator hands over the job to a formator, who sees the contract through.
How Does the Preformator Role Differ from Informator and Formator?
In the past, the informator, preformator and formator have usually been diverse people (a total of 14 different people were established in hopes of finding a resolution to the difficult puzzle of forming the previous Federal Government in 2020). But it appears that De Wever will assume all three roles this time.
While nothing is fixed in stone, experts assume that after the preformator phase, the King will also select De Wever to lead the real coalition negotiations as formator – who are traditionally the most likely contender to become Prime Minister. As one of Belgium‘s unwritten political regulations also states that the Prime Minister should be from the biggest group in the majority and N-VA won the most votes in the country, De Wever – as party leader – is a very likely candidate.
