Sophie Wilmès remains Belgian prime minister — for now.
The far-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party on Thursday called for a motion of no confidence in Wilmès, but it was immediately shot down by the seven parties that have until October 1 to form a Belgian government.
On March 17, when Wilmès was put in charge of a minority government in order to manage the coronavirus crisis, she promised to face parliament exactly six months later and subject herself to a confidence vote if a fully-fledged government was not in place. That date was Thursday and there’s still no government to replace Wilmès and her team.
It put Wilmès in a difficult position when she was grilled by opposition parties Thursday. They criticized her for disregarding the promise she made in March and want her to step down. Flemish opposition forces argue that the parties trying to form a coalition — French- and Dutch-speaking liberals, socialists and greens as well as Dutch-speaking Christian democrats — wouldn’t be representative of the country’s views as people in Flanders mostly voted for right-wing, nationalist parties that haven’t been invited to join a coalition.
For the nationalist N-VA, Flanders’ biggest party, that the prime minister did not ask for the confidence of the parliament was unacceptable. MP Peter De Roover demanded clarity about what would happen if there was no government by October 1 and Wilmès responded that her government was in caretaker mode and one of its main priorities was “to keep working toward handling the pandemic.”
“You are flouting the promise you made us here on March 17,” said Barbara Pas of Flemish Interest. “You have two options today: ask for trust, or resign yourself.”
The coalition process has been long and painful. Earlier this month, seven Belgian political parties agreed to start another round of talks. But two weeks ago, liberal party leader Egbert Lachaert, one of the leaders of the negotiations, tested positive for coronavirus, which disrupted the process and put physical meetings on hold. The seven parties therefore agreed to extend the remit of Wilmès’ minority government until October 1.
They hope to finish their negotiations in the next two weeks so that a new prime minister can be presented to parliament by October 1. A vote of confidence would then take place by October 3.
That deadline now seems ambitious as trust between the potential partners is fragile. Interior Minister Pieter De Crem said in an interview Thursday that his Flemish Christian democrats have no business being part of a coalition alongside greens and socialists.