While the run-up to the September Declaration was full of excitement and fireworks, the debate on the September Declaration in the Flemish Parliament today proceeds without major surprises. The opposition has criticized the crisis of the past week and the content of the budget agreement reached, but the Jambon government seems to have closed its ranks and is not facing any problems for the time being.
The Flemish Parliament is today debating the postponed September statement by Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon. Unsurprisingly, the Jambon government was criticized for the events of the past week.
For example, Vlaams Belang party leader Chris Janssens accused the government that it was “more concerned with party political interests than with the interests of our people”. “Last week we saw a lot of spectacle, but very little to get people out of this crisis,” Groen said.
Like a lion in a cage
Prime Minister Jambon admitted earlier this week that Monday’s embarrassment when he had to go to parliament empty-handed was “painful”, but that he subsequently fought “like a lion” for an agreement. Then like a “lion in a cage”, Janssens said with a reference to Willy Sommers’ song.
ALSO WATCH. Jambon succeeds in the September statement
The opposition criticized not only the form, but also the content of the budget agreement. According to them, the energy and purchasing power measures fall short. For example, Vlaams Belang spoke of “alms policy”. “The purchasing power effect of these measures will be just as great as the cohesion in the Flemish government”, says Janssens. The Flemish interventions do not go far enough for Groen and Vooruit either. Vooruit party leader Hannelore Goeman even talked about “peanuts”.
Government parties N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD countered this criticism and emphasized that they invest in a targeted manner, without losing sight of the budget. But while N-VA party leader Wilfried Vandaele fully defended the choice for budget orthodoxy, Groen party leader Björn Rzoska called the pride about the budget surplus in 2027 “misplaced”.
The opposition party accuses the government of not allowing the higher own income to flow back to society. “These are resources that do not actually belong to you, but which you in turn should allow much more flow to the cities and municipalities, to the schools, the youth sector, to all Flemish people who have to scratch at home to make ends meet. The money comes.” them,” said Rzoska.
New page
CD&V party leader Peter Van Rompuy came back to the bend that his party had to take about the indexation of the growth package, the former child benefit. According to Van Rompuy, his party “fought like a lion” but CD&V was isolated within the government and it was “not an option to plunge the government into a prolonged crisis”. “We are turning the page and continuing to work in the interest of the Flemish. That is also what they expect from us,” says Van Rompuy.
READ ALSO. INTEGRAL. Read Jan Jambon’s September statement here: “What I had to undergo on Monday was painful”
VTM NIEUWS speaks with Prime Minister Jambon after the most difficult week in his political career: “It was embarrassing to be there on Monday without a September statement”
OUR OPINION. “It is not because Jambon is not resentful that N-VA resigns. The war machine is ready.”
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