NINOVE – For the upcoming parliamentary elections, the N-VA member is ranked 3rdthe successor on the parliamentary list in Walloon Brabant. “That is possible according to the current electoral legislation”Yves De Groote tells us.
The N-VA is standing for the June 9 elections in all Walloon provinces. This does not involve moving, Yves explains to us. “If you stand up for Europe, it is enough that you live in Europe. For federal purposes, it is sufficient that you live in Belgium and for the region you must live there. That is simply the result of inadequate federalization. I’m ranked 3the successor on the parliamentary list in Walloon Brabant. Of course you always have the ambition to get elected, but it is up to the party to put together the list. Drieu Godefridi is the party leader.”
PS dominance
The rise of the N-VA in Wallonia has a double purpose. “That is primarily to make confederalism a topic of discussion there as well. In addition, every seat that the N-VA wins in Wallonia is one less for a possible Vivaldi II. If you want to make something of this country, confederalism is about the only solution. It is important for Flanders, but also for Wallonia, which urgently needs to get rid of that PS dominance, where unemployment is considered more important than work.”
Changing that doesn’t seem so easy. “The PS is quite short-sighted in this regard as a result of the politics of the 1930s and 1940s, in which trade unions were given power by making them pay unemployment compensation. Every unemployed person is a profit for the union and that is a perverse system. The spread between unemployment and work must increase. The minimum wage must rise, while in Wallonia they want to make unemployment compensation equal to the minimum wage. That is a completely different vision.”
French
He thinks it’s normal that Yves speaks quite a bit of French. “I went to school in Brussels and had a good French teacher. So I speak French quite well, although I haven’t quite mastered the political jargon. But I think it is a requirement to speak French if you also travel to Wallonia.”
Until further notice, he still lives in Ninove and may also be on the local N-VA list in the municipal elections of October 13. But that is not yet the case: six months can seem like an eternity in political terms.
MLI
 candidate in Walloon Brabant){kind=link}