Belgium’s Arizona Coalition
Threatens More Austerity and Attacks on Civil Rights
Bart De Wever of the right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has been appointed as Belgium’s new Prime Minister after seven months of negotiations. De Wever will lead the so-called Arizona government, composed of representatives from the N-VA, the Flemish Christian Democrats, and the center-left Vooruit party, as well as the liberal Les Engagés and the Reformist Movement from Wallonia.
Named after the flag of the US state of Arizona, whose colors match those of the coalition parties, the new government is expected to take a turn to the right and impose significant budget cuts. “We can already see that this government agreement is dictated solely by budgetary austerity,” commented the General Confederation of Labour of Belgium (ABVV-FGBT). “It [the government program] also reflects contempt for workers, welfare recipients, civil servants, refugees, newcomers, the sick, jobseekers, and women…”
Reacting to the news of the agreement on Friday 31 January, Raoul Hedebouw of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) stated that the government’s program suggests that workers will be expected to work more hours, for less pension, wages will be frozen, and social protection mechanisms will be dismantled. “They want to attack our social and democratic rights and drain us dry,” Hedebouw said. “What else can Arizona be called but a government of thugs?”
The PTB-PVDA has since published an initial analysis of the expected policies of the new government, highlighting that the coalition falls short of promises to demand greater contributions from the ultra-rich, placing the burden instead on the working class. Among other measures, the Arizona cabinet envisions setting the retirement age at 67 while imposing pension cuts, particularly for those retiring early after working in physically demanding jobs.
“In the public sector, SNCB [the National Railway Company of Belgium] train drivers and military personnel will only be able to obtain a full pension after a 45-year career,” the party warned. Meanwhile, despite demanding longer and harder work from military personnel for a meager income, spending on military equipment is set to rise. There will be billions more for guns and billions less for pensions, the PTB-PVDA concluded.
Trade unions and left movements are also raising concerns over proposed changes to labor laws, including liberalizing regulation on weekly mandatory rest and night work. Wages will be frozen until at least 2027. Beyond economic and social rights, Hedebouw warned that the new government, anticipating backlash against its austerity policies, is also preparing to clamp down on civil rights. “Leaks about the government agreement reveal numerous attacks on our democratic rights, particularly against trade unions and movements,” he stated.
In response to the looming attacks on the right to organize and protest, movements are already mobilizing against the Arizona government’s program. On 13 February, a mass national mobilization in Brussels is planned to send a clear message that the assault on social rights will not go unchallenged. “Today, I’m launching a general call for social resistance. We deserve better than this,” Hedebouw wrote on Friday. “Together with the unions, associations, the cultural sector, the peace movement, young people, and society as a whole, we can make this government back down and force them to pursue a completely different policy.”
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