The Open VLD wants to set up a federal constituency so that all Belgians can vote for the same candidates. A good idea ? Deciphering with Vincent Laborderie, Political Scientist at UCLouvain.

That’s what the Flemish Liberals are proposing Personality with the most votes from the largest party becomes automatically trainer and if everything goes well prime minister. Twenty of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives would be elected at the federal level. Each party should nominate a candidate for the post of prime minister.

The Liberals want to set a deadline to ensure that a government is formed quickly. A trainer would have with ita month to work out a coalition agreement. In the event of failure, the right of initiative would then go to the second most popular list, and so on. If there is still no government after six months, new elections are automatically called.

Democratic legitimacy

Vincent Laborderie believes the Open VLD proposal is interesting in terms of democratic legitimacy and legibility for voters, because the top of the list will be a candidate for prime minister. He reminded that the proposal is part of a wider reform. “It’s not just about a federal riding, it’s a way of giving a user’s guide to state educationand from political visibility for citizens and sectors”.

“A big problem in Belgium is that there are people who show up andWe have no idea who can become prime minister. The best proof is that Alexander De Croo can do it. The proposal reflects the concept of the lead candidate in the European elections, which wants the main political families of the EU to choose their candidate for the presidency of the European Commission,” he explains.

For him, the proposed reform would allow Belgians to be reconnected with political institutions. “This is a problem, perhaps even more serious than the division between communities or the issue of Belgian federalism,” he stresses. However, he fears that the “potion” is too radical. ” It has become a bit routine to have months and years without government, which is very problematic. We would move on there after a month or organize new elections,” he said.

An idea that is anything but new

The idea of ​​a federal constituency is not new, far from it. Already in 2007, the group of academics pavia had launched the idea of ​​a constituency for the House of Representatives. The faction proposed that 15 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives be allocated within this constituency. A few years later, the concept was discussed in a parity committee of the Bundestag.

How come sixteen years later the idea is still just a suggestion? Several major obstacles remain for Vincent Laborderie. “Belgian federalism has the particularity of not no national political parties. The most obvious way to deal with this would be to have a federal council so people everywhere can vote for everyone. In other countries like Germany and Canada, citizens don’t necessarily vote for the prime minister, but still vote for the same party because everyone is in their constituency. This is not possible in Belgium”.

Another peculiarity in Belgium is that the French-speaking parties do not present themselves in Flanders and the Flemish parties do not present themselves in Wallonia, with very minor exceptions. “Election reforms are very difficult because here the constitution should be changed and there are always parties that feel it is not in their interest. It’s very difficult to have actors who decide for themselves to change the rules of the game when it’s this game that empowers them ‘” adds the political scientist.

So the parties Environmentalists and liberals would support the ideabecause “they generally have good relations with their sister parties, and each party has a not necessarily negative image on the other linguistic side,” explains Vincent Laborderie.

Appearance of an extremist candidate?

The President of MR Georges-Louis Bouchez is indeed reacting positively to the idea, even if he does not endorse all the modalities proposed by his sister party. The automatic nature of the coach’s designation could bring out an extremist candidate, for example from Vlaams Belang. Not only would it be dangerous, but given the lack of potential allies, it would also be a waste of time, stresses the MR. ” The ‘risk’ is that we realize that the Vlaams Belang and the N-VA score in Wallonia, but that is democracy ‘ observes the political scientist.

He fears that the Vooruit party, worried about the PS’s image in Flanders, is unenthusiastic about being on the same list as the French-speaking socialists. You are not against the idea. “The PS has repeatedly positioned itself for such a project in the past. Its implementation would mean, in particular, deciding on the modalities. They will be crucial: the number of seats affected, ensuring the balance between Flemish and French speakers, strengthening democracy and maintaining the sanitary cordon to ensure democratic values,” comments the Socialist Party. On the Christian Democrat side, Les Engagés no longer have much in common with CD&V, emphasizes Vincent Laborderie. ” There is a whole range of actors in which a federal constituency has no interest “.

For the Flemish nationalist parties, the N-VA and the Vlaams Belang, the proposal makes no sense. “Not only do they have nobody on the French-speaking side, the idea of ​​destroying Belgium or separating it more and more doesn’t fit into their scheme either,” emphasizes the political scientist. “It always seems to be the French-speaking parties that block strong reforms and today the Open Vld rewards them,” MP Sander Loones (N-VA) reacted to the Belga agency. In his eyes, the federal constituency is “playing the game of those who do not want major reforms and who defend the status quo”. It would even be an additional ban against “the Flemish”.

The N-VA even accuses the Open VLD of initiating the idea of ​​securing the post of current Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “The Offene VLD is trying to strengthen itself thanks to its more powerful sister party (the MR, editor’s note) with the help of a single list, so it’s more about Alexander De Croo’s position than about strengthening democracy”.

Although he finds the idea interesting and conducive to democratic legitimacy, Vincent Laborderie does not hide his skepticism about common ground. As far as consensus goes, I’m very pessimistic. unfortunately, Belgian actors are not very daringalthough we are never safe from a pleasant surprise,” he concludes. (With Belga)