Despite the swipe by N-VA chairman Bart De Wever yesterday, MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez still wants to vote on the relaxation of the abortion law.
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MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez is not impressed by Bart De Wever’s threat. The N-VA chairman made it clear yesterday that for him abortion is a breaking point for government formation. “If parties press the green button for a law that I find really shameful, it is very difficult to pretend with the same parties the next day as if nothing had happened,” he told VRT NWS. In doing so, he agrees with the position of CD&V.
Bouchez had his answer ready today: “Let’s not be too impressed with such statements.” That’s what he said to RTBF. The parliamentary process is ongoing. Where there’s a will there’s a way.’ Although the liberals are trying to form a government that includes CD&V and N-VA, both against the abolition of abortion law, they do not want to postpone the vote. Something CD&V and N-VA so we want. But for Bouchez, “the time to vote has come.”
The Flemish liberals follow Bouchez in this, Open vld parliamentary group leader Vincent Van Quickenborne said on VRT on Sunday afternoon.
MR and Open vLD are in theory for a relaxation, but in practice leave their MPs free to vote when it comes to ethical issues. This means that some liberals can and will vote against a relaxation of abortion law. If there are enough, the relaxation will not happen and it will probably not endanger the formation discussions.
Conflict of interest
Vlaams Belang will invoke a conflict of interest in the Flemish Parliament against the new abortion legislation that is on the agenda in Parliament. That is announced by group leader Chris Janssens. Vlaams Belang, like CD&V and N-VA, is strongly opposed to the bill.
The conflict of interest is a procedure that a parliament can invoke if it believes that its interests are being harmed. To do this, she must obtain three-quarters of the votes in parliament. In the Flemish Parliament, this would therefore succeed if N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD agreed with the motion of the Vlaams Belang. ‘Open VLD will have to show its color’, Vlaams Belang is convinced.
If it succeeds, there will be a 60-day postponement in the Chamber anyway, which can quickly rise to 120 days due to intervention by the Senate and consultation between the federal states.
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