Bart De Wever at the sizzling Summer Party: “The N-VA must remain the largest party to lead Flanders to self-government”

The coronavirus put a stop to it twice, but there were no obstacles on Saturday evening: some 4,000 N-VA sympathisers descended on the Nekkerhal in Mechelen for the N-VA Summer Party. It was a sizzling evening with plenty of food and drink, dance and music. In his speech, chairman Bart De Wever praised our Flemish ministers, who stay on course in difficult circumstances. At the same time, he also denounced the disastrous federal situation, which is untenable and unacceptable. “Flanders must draw a line in the sand: this far and no further. The Flemish people must choose. Choose self-government. Choose Flanders. Choose the N-VA.”

“Last year, I stood here all alone with my speech, and the pandemic was at its height. Today we are back, literally and figuratively. The N-VA is the largest political family in the country; you are showing that yet again,” said Bart De Wever as he began his speech.

“Stay on course”

Nevertheless, according to Bart De Wever, every day, we must continue to prove that we are worthy of the trust of the Flemish people. “These are troubled times. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty is high. In times like these, people look to strong administrators and seasoned dealmakers. The N-VA has those in its ranks.” He referred to all the hard work of Jan Jambon, Ben Weyts, Zuhal Demir and Matthias Diependaele in the Flemish Government. “Stay on course”, was his message to them.

Federal mismanagement

The Vivaldi government’s federal policy is the opposite of this, Bart De Wever says: “With the greens in government, we will be handing out record amounts in subsidies for fossil fuels. With socialists in government, we see that it is precisely those who work for modest wages who lose net purchasing power. And with liberals in government, we consistently rank as one of the worst countries in the entire developed world for the budget deficit, government spending, the tax burden or debt.”

Flemish self-government

Bart De Wever says there is only one solution: Flemish self-government. “The Flemish people must choose. We are asking them to choose self-government, to choose Flanders, to choose the N-VA.”