The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, of the Flemish liberal party Open Vld, announced this Sunday (06/09/2024) his resignation following the poor results obtained by his party in the federal and regional elections in Belgium.
“For us it was a particularly difficult night, we lost,” said a moved De Croo, who could not avoid tears in an appearance in which he congratulated the winners, the Flemish nationalist party N-VA and the far-right Vlaams Belang, as well as as well as the Flemish socialist party Vooruit, which also achieved good results.
Reflecting on the poor results of the Flemish liberal party, which contrast with the good results achieved by the French-speaking liberals (MR) in Brussels and Wallonia, De Croo considered that it has only been “the figurehead of this campaign.”
“This is not the result I expected and I will not shirk my responsibilities. Starting tomorrow I will resign as prime minister (…) I will concentrate fully on current affairs. I will prepare everything for a good transmission to my successor or successors,” he said. .
When evaluating the results obtained, De Croo admitted that for now his party has “many more questions than answers”, but assured that his party is “combative and resilient” and will return “stronger”.
With more than 95% of the votes counted, the Flemish separatists are once again the strongest political force after the parliamentary elections. The conservative New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) is expected to take 17% of the vote, while the more extreme Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party would get the second highest percentage of votes, with 14%.
In the national vote held on the same day as the European Parliament elections, De Croo’s Flemish liberal party would lose almost half of its seats in the Belgian House of Representatives.
jc (efe, dpa)
