In the Flemish Parliament, opposition parties Vooruit, Groen, Vlaams Belang and PVDA have decided to leave the hemisphere. In the first vote, there were insufficient members of parliament from the majority parties (N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD) present. The session has now been adjourned and the majority is trying to drum up absent MPs to be able to organize votes.
It is not the first time that the Flemish majority is not ‘in number’ to be able to vote. “Across the street (the Chamber, ed.) there is regular controversy – and rightly so in my view. A democracy deserves a full parliament. You have to make sure there is a majority. We are not going to participate in the votes,” said Groen party leader Björn Rzoska.
There is also enough for Vooruit party leader Hannelore Goeman. “This is the third time in a row that the majority has failed to reach the quorum (the minimum number of MPs present to validly vote). We get the impression that people don’t take their own legislative work seriously,” says Goeman.
‘Everyone deserves a holiday’
One of the votes on the agenda was the principle of ‘Everyone deserves a holiday’. “Apparently the majority has applied that principle a little too enthusiastically to themselves,” says Goeman.
“If the people’s representatives of the majority make no effort to be present at the vote of the decrees of their own ministers, then we cannot tolerate that,” Vlaams Belang party leader Chris Janssens added. And the PVDA also stepped up as a “signal”.
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