Jean-Luc Crucke, Walloon Budget minister, resigns from post and quits politics: “I took this decision on my own without any external pressure”

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  2. **A small political earthquake in Wallonia at the beginning of 2022: the Walloon Minister for the Budget, Jean-Luc Crucke, announced that he was resigning, leaving political life and that he is now a candidate for the post of judge at the Constitutional Court. This announcement follows the painful adoption of his decree for “a fairer tax” and the strong tensions between the minister and his party president, Georges-Louis Bouchez.**

    This Monday morning, the Walloon Minister of Budget, Jean-Luc Crucke (MR) invited the press at the last minute. Officially, the Walloon Budget Minister proposed to the journalists to “take stock of the work of the last weeks”.

    The minister quickly announced that he was leaving the Walloon government and that he had informed his teams and Elio Di Rupo this Monday morning.

    “The political tension with the “fairer tax” decree led me to a simple conclusion. My liberal convictions are no longer in line with my party line. This is a reality, not a regret. I have always had opinions, described by some as “on the fringes” at the level of my party, particularly on climate, migration and now tax issues… The November-December episode showed that we were no longer talking about the substance”, explained Jean-Luc Crucke at the beginning of the press conference. The November-December episode showed that we were no longer talking about the substance”, explained Jean-Luc Crucke at the beginning of the press conference. I saw Georges-Louis on Thursday at my home. We discussed very frankly, calmly and in a good mood. I made my decision alone without any external pressure.

    **High tensions**

    As a reminder, it was the vote on the decree for “a fairer tax”, prepared by Jean-Luc Crucke, which led the Walloon government and the MR into an internal crisis at the beginning of December.

    Jean-Luc Crucke, who wanted to have his decree adopted under the PS-MR-Ecolo majority agreement, was dropped by his own party’s parliamentarians who pointed out the legal fragility of the text and considered that it attacked the middle class too much.

    “He added that “he will know how to draw the consequences when the time comes”.

    The “frondeurs” MR MPs were supported by their president, Georges-Louis Bouchez. “We must stop considering that parliamentarians are the press-buttons of texts that come from the government,” Georges-Louis Bouchez stressed, even describing them as “irreproachable in this matter”.

    A crisis that brought to light the bad relations between the MR president and the Walloon Minister of Finance.

    But after five days of turmoil and contacts, the draft decree was finally returned to the parliament, where it was approved, including by the liberal parliamentarians “in the name of government stability”.

    **Constitutional Court**

    Behind the scenes, a scenario had been recurring for several weeks. That of an appointment of Jean-Luc Crucke to the Constitutional Court. This month, the Mouvement Réformateur must appoint its representative in this high court. And as we revealed to you, Georges-Louis Bouchez wanted to send a tenor from Hainaut. A way for the president to get rid of two “cumbersome” elected officials, both from a personal and local point of view.

    “Georges-Louis wants to clean up Hainaut, he doesn’t want Crucke, Marghem or Denis Ducarme on the federal list for Hainaut, so he is manoeuvring in this direction”, a well-informed source told us.

    A scenario that has been confirmed. “Georges-Louis has once again proposed me to be the MR candidate for the Constitutional Court,” explained Jean-Luc Crucke. “This time I accepted. This position has always tempted me. I had already talked about it with him in 2019. But my ministerial mandate meant that this possibility was not available. I am sure that I will be able to play a suitable role in the service of democracy. I have many other plans, such as teaching, writing and walking across Iran. The future looks exciting.

    “It was important for the Mouvement Réformateur to have a quality candidate for the Constitutional Court”, commented Georges-Louis Bouchez.

    **Who will replace Jean-Luc Crucke?**

    Behind the scenes, several names are being mentioned to replace Jean-Luc Crucke, some of them insistently, such as Philippe Goffin or Maxime Daye, the current MR mayor of Braine-le-Comte.

    But to know who will be the new minister, we will have to wait. It is only on Tuesday that Georges-Louis Bouchez will reveal the choice of the MR to replace Jean-Luc Crucke in the Walloon government. “We will organise a press conference on Tuesday morning to present the person who will succeed him and who will take office after the government meeting on Thursday”, said Georges-Louis Bouchez.

    Translated with [www.DeepL.com/Translator](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)

  3. A decision taken on his own and “without any external pressure”… But just a short time after being considerably criticized and delegitimized by Bouchez and several other MPs.

    > “The political tension with the “fairer tax” decree led me to a simple conclusion. My liberal convictions are no longer in line with my party line. This is a reality, not a regret. I have always had opinions, described by some as “on the fringes” at the level of my party, particularly on climate, migration and now tax issues…

    So as the MR shifts to the right under Bouchez, the more centrist elements are being pushed out.

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