First act
We mentioned it recently, among the arsenal of reforms announced at the regional level is the sudden end to the financing of school meals (free for families)… An announcement which today clearly threatens the survival of this policy put in place in Liège since 2023 and which, above all, would have deleterious consequences on an entire sector and, de facto, on dozens of jobs. Signed by the Vert Ardent group, the motion mentioned the health and social objectives but also the economic viability of the tools put in place. Arguments very logically shared by the PS maneuvering this issue in the City. The motion was adopted by the PS, Vert Ardent and the PTB therefore, but not by the MR and the Engaged… First political unease within the majority, quickly followed by another.
Second act
After Vert Ardent, it was the PTB which defended “its” motion, calling for opposition to the increase in fees in higher education. Minerval which would be set at 1,200 euros, an increase of up to 200% at the Haute École de la Ville de Liège. “An increase perceived as a real social setback and a barrier to access to studies for many students”recalled the PTB. The motion was also followed by the PS (and Vert Ardent)… but not by the MR and the Engagés, who could (again) have difficulty disavowing the regional policy of the MR-Engagés Government.
Laura Léon Fanjul, PTB advisor and provincial president of the movement, did not fail to highlight this vote of an alternative majority perceived as “a strong and official political position taken by the City of Liège, calling on the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to withdraw its project”.
Particularly within the Liège left, many also saw the vote on these two motions as a “key moment”, marking an inevitable break within the PS-MR-Engagés majority in Liège. A moment that is certainly bound to be repeated, we hope in the ranks of the opposition.
