Always unpredictable, the nationalist leader Bart De Wever, mayor of Antwerp and president of the Neo-Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the leading party in Flanders, launched the electoral campaign unexpectedly in Belgium on Wednesday March 20. By announcing his plan to present lists in the five provinces of Wallonia for the federal legislative elections on June 9, Mr. De Wever innovated and surprised, and not only because his first French-speaking recruit, Drieu Godefridi, presents a very particular profile. .
In this country that the N-VA still intends to dismantle and where, according to its president, cohabit “two democracies” distinct and irreconcilable, the Flemish parties have so far presented lists in their region only, the French-speaking parties doing the same in Wallonia. The third region, Brussels-Capital, bilingual, is the only one where citizens can opt for Dutch-speaking or French-speaking candidates.
A candidate for the right of the right
The president of the N-VA believes, however, that“it is time to show the Walloons that an alternative exists”. He thus attacks both the federal coalition of Flemish liberal Alexander De Croo, supported by the French-speaking socialist, liberal and environmental parties, and what he describes as “the socialist system” Walloon, reinforced according to him by the strong progress of the communist left, the Belgian Labor Party.
“There is room in Wallonia for a serious center-right party”, he said to justify his approach. However, it was a man very far from the center who was chosen to promote the movement: Drieu Godefridi, 52, head of the list in the province of Walloon Brabant, is clearly to the right of the right. The candidates expected for the other provinces, who will be presented soon, would also be close to a radical and identity-based right.
Doctor of philosophy, entrepreneur and publisher, founder of an ultraconservative think tank, Drieu Godefridi stood out in Belgium and France for his positions in favor of Donald Trump, the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro and the Argentinian Javier Milei.
Occasional contributor to very right-wing magazines Current values, Talker And The Incorrectthis supporter of Eric Zemmour has also developed theses against what he calls “totalitarian environmentalism” and abortion, underlines Manuel Abramowicz, of the site Resistances.be, who analyzed the profile of the person concerned at length.
Establish a “Belgian confederation”
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