Jean-Luc Crucke, the former finance minister of Wallonia, who was thought to be leaving for the Constitutional Court, changed his mind and decided to stay in politics, as he announced to La Libre.
This is a big surprise, as Mr. Crucke seemed to have taken a huge step back from politics, devoting a lot of time to his favorite hobby: walking.
But we have to believe that these long hours traveling the countryside around his home, in Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, or higher paths have allowed him to meditate on his future, unless the virus of politics has taken back.
Met
“It’s not just the rides,” he tells us. “These are also the people I met. Here, during these six months, I was no longer my nose in the grindstone, I had the opportunity to think, to talk with people. You know, when we see that the extreme left is at 20% in Wallonia and that the extreme right is the same in Flanders, we say to ourselves that it is urgent that the democrats come together. »
But where is the emergency? “The climate,” resumes Mr. Crucke. “The IPCC report, I read it. In full. It is absolutely necessary to act for the climate. But also from a social point of view, for the dignity of people, for the entrepreneurs who tell me that they are being taxed. We must also stop constantly shooting De Croo, who is doing a good job. »
Jean-Luc Crucke speaks of the urgency of getting the Democrats to speak to each other again, “with respect”, he adds. But does this mean the creation of a new movement? “No, certainly not, you don’t need one more movement. But people have to talk to each other, wealth is consensus. I launched the idea of Clé.s (Liberal, economic and social circles). There are places where we have to relearn how to talk to each other, between people of different sensitivities. And stop shouting at each other, hurting each other. I don’t want to be prime minister or minister. But finding solutions with other people, daring to talk about difficult, sometimes unpopular measures. »
Not a new party
He does not want to create a movement, even less a new party, but behind his approach, one feels the veiled criticism of his party president, Georges-Louis Bouchez. “Oh no, I don’t want to make it a personal affair. We have differences, everyone knows that. With him, sometimes, the form ends up killing the substance. But I repeat, it is not a question of people. »
In 2023, could he be his party’s presidential candidate? “It is absolutely not on the agenda”, insists Jean-Luc Crucke. “We can’t rule anything out, but that’s not the question that bothers me. »
The man has received many calls since leaving the government, including personalities from his own party. Some asked him to come back. “The decision, we take it alone,” he says. “When I was a minister, I was driven by my agenda. Now I want to take the time, to listen, for my family. »
Jean-Luc Crucke will therefore remain a Walloon MR deputy while having the ambition to represent within his party “social liberalism, progressive liberalism. The fight of people does not interest me”, concludes Jean-Luc Crucke.