Brussels (The Brussels morning newspaper): Cieltje Van Achter emphasized the urgency for budget reforms in Brussels post-elections, citing significant debt concerns. She advocates for collaboration to enhance safety and reduce unemployment, noting potential coalition options.
After the election on June 9, Van Achter commented roughly on the Dutch-speaking side. She explained that her party is looking forward to being responsible and collaborating with others in implementing meaningful reforms and appropriately managing the budget. Van Achter stated that “the issues we are facing are enormous.” Even before elections, the budget was in bad shape. If this situation continues, we will add another billion euros to our debt. It is very important to make changes now, waiting until after local elections would be extremely irresponsible. Van Achter aims at making Brussels a safer place and reducing unemployment levels. In her view, there is a need for a cleaner and safer city particularly because of the high level of unemployment rates experienced within its jurisdiction. Although she believes there should be great transformation in this region, she has not specified what they entail. She indicated that those plans would be discussed and her party be invited into negotiations.
What options does Van Achter see for the coalition?
Van Achter knows it’s tough to form the Brussels Government on the Dutch-speaking side, but she believes there are “definitely options” to create a majority. She didn’t mention which parties she prefers to work with. CD&V previously said it would make sense to include N-VA in the discussions. “We aim to work with parties that are serious about addressing the budget, security issues, and the lack of bilingualism in our capital,” she explained. “This is for the benefit of the people of Brussels.” If Groen, N-VA and Open VLD team up, socialist Vooruit would be the smallest party in the coalition. This means they might not get one of the three ministerial roles for Dutch speakers in the Brussels Government. In the plan with Groen, Open VLD, Vooruit and CD&V, CD&V would have been the smallest party without a ministerial role. But CD&V leader Benjamin Dalle had an issue with this and decided not to participate in the discussions.
