Belgian Politics & Elections: Federal, regional & EP elections on June 9, 2024

[Zinneke]

Even less a chance they make it if N-VA run in all 5 Walloon Provinces.

[PSOL]

I don't mind them splitting the vote of the right wing in Wallonia tbh.

You should, as increased turnout means that PTB-PVDA wins less seats.

[Zinneke]

I don't mind them splitting the vote of the right wing in Wallonia tbh.

You should, as increased turnout means that PTB-PVDA wins less seats.

Turnout isn't as big a factor in Belgian elections

[PSOL]

I don't mind them splitting the vote of the right wing in Wallonia tbh.

You should, as increased turnout means that PTB-PVDA wins less seats.

Turnout isn't as big a factor in Belgian elections

Any factor is big enough to get noticed.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I don't mind them splitting the vote of the right wing in Wallonia tbh.

You should, as increased turnout means that PTB-PVDA wins less seats.

Turnout isn't as big a factor in Belgian elections

Any factor is big enough to get noticed.

There is compulsory voting

And a vote to a party that isn't going to get above threshold isn't going to hurt PVDA-PTB. The people that will vote N-VA in Wallonia would usually vote MR or for any of the other parties like la droite, liste destexhe, chez nous or vlaams belang (don't know which ones will actually appear on the list). They're splitting the vote and ensuring the minor right-wing parties are even less likely to get over electoral threshold.

[Zinneke]

Another far right European "patriot" caught helping a Chinese spy get a visa. This time the guilty party is Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang, most known for calling for a "White Europe" back in the day. But helping illegals come to Belgium, and supporting a country still nominally communist.

[MaxQue]

Another far right European "patriot" caught helping a Chinese spy get a visa. This time the guilty party is Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang, most known for calling for a "White Europe" back in the day. But helping illegals come to Belgium, and supporting a country still nominally communist.

And, yet, their opposition continues to be weak, instead of just calling them Chinees Belang.

[Logical]

I thought PVDA were supposed to be the Maoists.

[Zinneke]

Another far right European "patriot" caught helping a Chinese spy get a visa. This time the guilty party is Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang, most known for calling for a "White Europe" back in the day. But helping illegals come to Belgium, and supporting a country still nominally communist.

And, yet, their opposition continues to be weak, instead of just calling them Chinees Belang.

They are way ahead of you. But then there is no opposition other than VB and PTB/PVDA

[Flyersfan232]

I thought PVDA were supposed to be the Maoists.

more of their voters are monarchists then republicans.

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/DGodefridi/status/1776150694124261533

The chief N-VA francophone candidate/troll on twitter is now calling out Vooruit because their posters resemble Stalinism and National Socialism all at once. Have to say along with the name change, logo change and the last party president's choice views on Romani,  he may have a point!

(But still Melissa )

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/lesoir/status/1778635667599167816

In which the most indebted of city-regions in Europe finds a way to claim 70k in expenses for their employees for going to golf course

[Zinneke]

As we approach to the elections the majorities across the board are slowly, inevitably crumbling. I already spoke earlier in the thread about how the Federal Vivaldi coalition was basically at a standstill with major reforms not being able to pass (the tax shift reducing charges on income in favour of increased VAT was blocked by the MR, who all parties in the Vivaldi, including Open VLD and De Croo, recognise as the ball and chain).

Now there is an effective falling of the Walloon government and the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles government on the cards due to the reform of higher education (Décret Paysage) on the horizon and agreed in the negotiations for the formation of the Fédération (that deals with education).

The reform was pushed by MR and was wide ranging but it is the stricter requirements to pass the first year courses that is the key element of contention from the Francophone Students Union (the FEF, notoriously I should say, seen as a platform to an eventual promotion into PS and ECOLO cabinets, but still quite plural). They argue that thousands of students could potentially be impacted by the fact that they will be forced to cease their studies if they even failed one course from their first year program but continued to pass all of the others through the rest of the studies. They also believe that students still impacted by Covid lockdown should not be the generation to bear the brunt.

MR and university administrators in favour of the measure argue that too many students often treat higher education as simply a way to maintain their student status until their late 20s to be more employable : in Belgium the minimum wage is so high that for a young worker a student status allows them to be employed without the employer paying so much tax on it. MR also are heavily targeting the angry boomer vote that believes that standards should be stricter for everyone except themselves. University administrators (some but not all) are frustrated at potential cuts when they believe many students are simply costing more than they are producing by being enrolled.  I personally have witnessed first hand people in my circle of friends registering for courses just to be able to enter the labour market, without attending a single course, but then this is a wider issue in Wallonia-Brussels - too high cost of labour,  bad transition from studies to work in general, denigration of technical schools despite massive shortages in technical jobs.

Anyway, the pressure from the FEF meant ECOLO and PS decided to bring back the Minister’s legislation to the fore yesterday and amend it, passing it in subcommittee with help of the PTB. MR and Les Engagés, in perhaps a hint at a future alliance, both wanted to maintain the text as it is. A furious Pierre-Yves Jeholet (the MR Minister-President of the Federation) has come out this morning essentially announcing that the government was now a “current affairs” one, where alternative majorities are now possible. This also opens the door to the potential Red-Red-Green in Wallonia, which the N-VA is practically begging for by running spoiler candidates there just so they can justify the Brown-Yellow-(Orange/Blue) government in Flanders.

In other news, Emir Kir, the mayor of Brussels commune Saint-Josse-Ten-Nood, shut down an international “National Conservatives” conference yesterday. This caused a mini-commotion at federal level as Prime Minister De Croo insisted that the right to assembly was constitutional. Kir is an obvious hypocrite given he was kicked out of the PS for having far right Turkish mayors visit his commune as if they were respected dignitaries, but he came out this morning saying it was a matter of public order. The speakers included Farage, Suella Braverman, but also people like Filip Dewinter who are more traditional neo-fascists (unless its about receiving money from China for fake visas).

Overall the campaign is noted for its inability to set clear themes. Last time two real events marked both sides of the linguistic communities : in Flanders it was the brutal murder committed by a released felon that focused on the lax justice system and helped VB, and in Wallonia and Brussels the climate protests were top of the agenda. In this campaign, there have yet to be real events like this and instead it revolves around very particular, technical issues like the “Décret Paysage” above or the GoodMove in Brussels, that are then simplified to get the social media hits. All the polls show though that what people care about the most is buying power. Analysts note that the Vivaldi parties are probably doing this campaign strategy on purpose because they know they have very little idea how to fix the buying power problem and that everybody black balls some of the obvious “fixes” (MR blackballs the tax shift, PS blackballs spending cuts etc). This leaves an absolute boulevard for the extreme parties to talk about cost of living issues, and is another explainer as to why they are so high in the polls. Debates in general seem to have very little effect here compared to the Netherlands.

[Estrella]

the tax shift reducing charges on income in favour of increased VAT was blocked by the MR, who all parties in the Vivaldi, including Open VLD and De Croo, recognise as the ball and chain

Why on Earth would MR be opposed to that? Are many of their members the sort of small businessmen who get their €€€ from Frenchies and Germans shopping for cheaper cigarettes/alcohol/​petrol/​whatever?

[Zinneke]

the tax shift reducing charges on income in favour of increased VAT was blocked by the MR, who all parties in the Vivaldi, including Open VLD and De Croo, recognise as the ball and chain

Why on Earth would MR be opposed to that? Are many of their members the sort of small businessmen who get their €€€ from Frenchies and Germans shopping for cheaper cigarettes/alcohol/​petrol/​whatever?

The tax shift basically isn't a direct tax cut. It's idea is to make up the losses of tax revenue with an increase on taxes on things like sugar, football tickets and gambling. About 2 weeks ago Humo, a Flemish investigative paper, explored the close relationship that GLB had with the gambling companies, including the fact that Ladbrokes sponsored his rally racing and the football club he currently runs alongside his 10 other mandates(that he also hilariously, in true GLB narcissistic fashion, changed the logo of his football club to look more like himself). When Francophone media picked it up, GLB called them to intimidate the journalists and remove the articles. The gambling industry's lobby is also headed by Damien Thery, an ex-MR bruiser. Safe to say the links between MR and certain industries that were "targeted" are very close. VLD are much more independent-minded and ideological.