Vlaams Belang wants to use the law to block the Flemish government

Vlaams Belang wants to activate an old law to call for motions against Flemish politics. Party leader Chris Janssens said this in an interview with Sunday.

In the news: Because of the 31 seats in the Flemish parliament that Vlaams Belang won after the elections, the party can obstruct politics.

• “Since we have a quarter of the total seats, we can make motions to oppose a policy for philosophical or ideological reasons,” says Janssens. “Be assured that we will use this tool if the government wants to implement a policy that goes against the will of the Flemish people.”
• This law dates back to an old law dating back to 1970 “which was intended to protect Catholics in the French Cultural Council and liberals in the Dutch Cultural Council,” explains political scientist Nicolas Bouteca. The standard.
• The motion submitted ensures that the discussion of the Flemish decree is immediately stopped. The Presidents of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Flemish Parliament and the French Community Parliament must then assess whether the motion is acceptable or not.
• But once this group decides that there is nothing wrong, the Flemish parliament can continue voting on the decree. “It seems unlikely that Vlaams Belang will do this several times,” says Botica. The party “could use it to bully the Flemish government,” he says.
• It remains to be seen how many times Jansen and the rest of his party plan to invoke the law. The rule was last used in 2019.