PS chairman Paul Magnette mocked the will of his N-VA colleague Bart de Wever to become prime minister on Thursday evening. Magnette himself reiterated that he himself was ready to “assume his responsibilities” at the head of a federal government after the elections. And despite strong language towards the Flemish nationalists, he does not rule out a collaboration with N-VA.
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“Mr. De Wever now tells us that he wants to become Prime Minister. We say to him: Mr. De Wever, if you want to lead a country, you must have dreams and ambitions for that country, not wish for its end,” Magnette said at the New Year’s reception of the PS in Charleroi, where he is mayor. Last Saturday, De Wever declared his willingness to become prime minister in a kind of business cabinet after the elections.
“If you want to lead a country, you have to unite all Belgians, bring them together, not pit them against each other. If you want to lead a country, you just have to love it,” said the PS chairman. “And we love this country,” he said to thunderous applause.
“We are intensely Walloon, Brussels, French-speaking, German-speaking, but we are also Belgians, attached to everything this country has given us.” He spoke of a “land of freedom”, “prosperity” and “solidarity”.
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“We want to bring together the Walloons, Flemish and Brussels residents (he also mentioned the “comrades” of Vooruit, who are “hand in hand” with their French-speaking colleagues),” he added. “We want to unite with the same conviction men and women, the young and the elderly, the able-bodied and the disabled, those who have a job and those who do not. We want everyone to be able to live their lives.”
“We are ready to take on our responsibilities,” Magnette added. “And I am personally ready to take on my responsibilities if the citizens give us their trust.” In ‘Terzake’ he added that he wanted to “quickly form a full-fledged government after the elections”. Magnette does not rule out a collaboration with the N-VA – despite the strong language at his New Year’s reception.
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