MR MPs agreed in the parliamentary intergroup on Monday evening to maintain confidence in their party chairman, Georges-Louis Bouchez. He will have to be surrounded by ten ‘wise men’ of the party.
–
The debate lasted more than four hours and was very lively at times. Bouchez came under heavy fire after his remarkable casting in the new federal government and a failed reshuffle of MR ministers in the Walloon government. ‘He has apologized and he had to listen, which is not easy for him,’ says Walloon Budget Minister Jean-Luc Crucke in The morning.
The new decision-making body, which will be composed of ten wise men together with Bouchez, will be located next to the expanded bureau and should “ensure that there is a debate around the decisions,” said former Pensions Minister Daniel Bacquelaine after the meeting. Basically, Bouchez should consult the group before making a decision.
It is not yet clear who exactly those ten are. Ex-minister Denis Ducarme and Crucke are already included. In any case, there are more than expected yesterday. This puts an end to Bouchez’s ‘hyper presidency’, as Crucke calls it. He stresses in The morning that it is a team, not a group. ‘With a team you always have a leader, that is now Bouchez. He’s the best of us. The last ten days were just contrary to what we’ve seen before. ‘ At the RTBF he said that Bouchez ‘has good and bad qualities’. “Nobody is all-knowing.”
Illegal casting
Yesterday the names of Deputy Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès, Walloon Deputy Prime Minister Willy Borsus, the Prime Minister of the French Community Pierre-Yves Jeholet and the Brussels MR party leader Alexia Bertrand were mentioned for the wise. Vice-chairmen Gérard Deprez and Katrin Jardin were also mentioned.
“It no longer depends on one person,” Crucke told RTBF. ‘By looking together at how we can work better, we will go further.’ He denounced ‘illegal casting’. Crucke shared the photo of Walloon politicians who accused they were not quota.
Reform statutes
‘We have also agreed to adjust our governance and communication, while at the same time wanting to work more closely with MPs to create a collective dynamic. We will also continue with the reform of our statutes, which is already underway, ‘assured the Walloon Minister of Economy, Willy Borsus. He did warn that such incidents should no longer occur and that Bouchez will get one last chance. Borsus spoke of dismissal before the party office.
“We managed to land, but there is still work to be done,” said Denis Ducarme. “We have all this in memory and we don’t forget it, but it was important to reassure our militants,” Ducarme said. His words yesterday were that he is not proud to be a liberal at the moment and that the image they now give to the population ‘disgusting‘is. “The MR is destroying itself.”
Nepotism
Before the meeting, Sabine Laruelle spoke about the party’s nepotism. “I’ve had it with practices that resemble those of a mafia clan.” Among other things, the power of the Michel family is heavy on the stomach of the party. Crucke told RTBF that this is not a new problem and has been going on for longer than these past weeks.
Georges-Louis Bouchez did not respond, he left the meeting without comment.
The debate was triggered by Bouchez’s remarkable casting for the federal government. As Secretary of State he chose Mathieu Michel, the relatively unknown brother of European Council President and former MR Prime Minister Charles Michel. As a result, Denis Ducarme had to make way. Bouchez then tried to make Ducarme a minister in the Walloon government, at the expense of Valérie De Bue, but soon had to withdraw that decision when it turned out that the Walloon government would then no longer meet the statutory minimum of one third of women.
Mathieu Michel was discredited yesterday because he parked his car very antisocial and it had to be towed.
– .
