Then no hearing with VRT leadership in the Flemish Parliament, because N-VA and Vlaams Belang are absent: “Mockery”

There will be no hearing with the VRT leadership in the Flemish Parliament. Majority party N-VA and opposition party Vlaams Belang remained absent on Friday for an extra session of the Media Committee, meaning there was no quorum and therefore no vote could be taken on the request for a hearing.

On Thursday there was yet another incident involving the public broadcaster. A new TV series that is in the making at VRT, ‘Knappe heads’, is said to have been created in consultation with the cabinet of Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA), which was also responsible for the financing. It is not the only program for which Flanders is making money available, but according to critics within the VRT, it has been pushed through in a brutal manner and a line has been crossed. Flemish Media Minister Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) said in a response that there is no indication of political interference in VRT programs.

It was certainly not the first or only incident in recent weeks and months, just think of the heated discussion about the cancellation of the documentary series about Bart De Pauw (‘The trial that no one wanted’). Opposition parties Groen and Vooruit have long wanted the VRT leadership and especially CEO Frederik Delaplace to provide explanations and explanations in the Flemish Parliament. But the ruling party N-VA in particular held that boat back.

No hearing

A new attempt to summon the VRT top will therefore not yield any results. N-VA and Vlaams Belang did not show up for an extra session of the Media Committee on Friday, meaning there were not enough MPs to vote.

“This is a political issue that we want to settle with the minister and not with the CEO,” says Chris Janssens of Vlaams Belang. “A hearing with the CEO could – at the request of the VRT – also take place behind closed doors, and we do not want that.”

At Vooruit en Groen people are very disappointed. Commission chairman Meyrem Almaci (Green) speaks of “a mockery after the series of problematic files”. “It is also very telling: those who have nothing to hide, have nothing to lose. The VRT deserves better than this,” said Almaci.

“I am appalled by the passive obstruction that N-VA is conducting here as the only majority party,” adds Vooruit MP Katia Segers. “What drives N-VA to stop this hearing? What drives N-VA to boycott parliament in its control function? So many weighty matters have emerged recently about what is happening at the top of the VRT and there is still no reason to hear CEO Delaplace in parliament?” sighs the Vooruit politician.