Coens calls for "corona coalition" to tackle economic impact of the virus
The leader of the Flemish Christian democrats Joachim Coens has suggested the formation of a “corona coalition” in order to take the economic impact of the virus on the Belgian economy. Mr Coens told journalists that "A crisis like the novel corona virus has an enormous economic impact and requires measures from an effective government. Maybe we should discuss a corona coalition of those that want to do something about it?”
It is unclear which parties would join such a coalition. However, the Flemish Christian democrats continue to push for a government with a majority on both sides of the linguistic divide. This would require the participation of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA.
Mr Coens’ “corona coalition” would focus on issues such as “the budget, competitiveness and people purchasing power”.
However, two weeks since Mr Coens’ party colleague Koen Geens threw in the towel with regards to his efforts to find a way out of the political impasse as it was clear that there was no chance of the Francophone socialists and Flemish nationalists both joining the same coalition, Mr Coens still appears adamant that both parties should be in the federal coalition. Mr Coens insists that the “corona coalition he suggests should have a majority among bot Flemish and Francophone members of the Federal Parliament. In order for this to happen both the Francophone socialists and the Flemish nationalists would need to take part.
He told VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme “We have always said that a stable government is necessary, but there are also important points of contents. We are always available to find a good solution to the challenges facing our country”.