2023-10-03 10:18:49
Crucke: “The MR is a right-wing party, like the Republicans in France”
By BJ
Jean-Luc Crucke, who moved from MR to Engagés last February, likes to point out: it is rare for a minister who doesn’t drag around to resign because he is no longer in phase with his party president. However, this is what he did in January 2022. The good poll for his party delights him, of course. “When we have such an upward margin, we see that there is a trend,” he tells us. “Les Engagés is a new political offer which is starting to be understood by more and more people. We are creating a movement that is center-right, with assumed social liberalism. »
“The worst is polarization”
He takes a rather harsh look at a certain current form of political communication. “The worst thing that can happen is a polarization of society. We believe that the center can bring citizens together, without trying to create differences between people. » He sees the divide on the far left, but also in his former party. “If we want to talk about a divide, the MR is no longer in social liberalism, it is a right-wing party, like Les Républicains in France (a party more conservative than liberal, editor’s note). I haven’t changed my values. Maxime Prévot (president of Les Engagés, NDR) managed to question things. In-depth work has been done in his party. I believe that this in-depth work will bear fruit, it is not just communication. Anyone who thought that polarizing society was the right thing to do is wrong. »
He also hits the nail on the head: “Wallonia has not become communist and Flanders fascist! » The allusion to the rise of the PTB in the south and Vlaams Belang in the north is clear. Jean-Luc Crucke insists on the way of working among the Engagés: “In political office, we debate, we do not try to know how we are going to communicate. »
Abortion referendum
He also believes that it should be possible to organize referendums on social issues, “as is done in Switzerland or Ireland”. Even on abortion, a sensitive subject among the Engagés, heirs of the cdH, itself successor of the PSC? “It is not for nothing that I gave you the example of Ireland. There, they talked about it, people are old enough to give their opinion on social issues. All this confirms my choice. I was no longer in harmony with the positioning of my former party. To keep my conscience, I had to leave. »
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