They were all six of the candidates, who have their sights set on the presidency of the CD&v, mr Joachim Coens, CEO of port of Zeebrugge, belgium, and the mayor of Damme, take the plunge. With a healthy dose of reservation. “I don’t know how much of a chance I’ll make it,” he says. “But at the very least, I will have the debate with the ambition of aangestookt the same.”

“Suddenly, there is the question of you whether you’re to put on. The head is: Let it be, you already have enough to do. But, the heart says, Maybe you will need to offer you. It is a contest, and you can see from this list, where the members are going to want to.”

it is The heart that is the debate finally settled for. Joachim Coens, CEO of Zeebrugge port, and the mayor of West-Flanders-Damme, vying for the presidency of his party, CD&V. “I had to think about what was lost since the time of the elections,” he said. “My conclusion is that people are solutions, and while the politics is too much involved with the fight. You should be doing with your time, but you can’t be blind to the world around us is: Brexit, digitization, mass migration, climate, and so on.”

Of the shoulds.

And that challenges CD&V) is a solution formulation. And, in particular, the CD&V should not be on their own. Coens calls for a “platform” – a move à la Marche, the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “To the left and to the right, it is not the line that we are now facing,” he said. “Now it’s going to be between people who are for the conflict to choose from, and the people who have solutions to find. That last one is in the DNA of the CD&V. That is, we need to find it, and other people have this interest.”

the It shoulds according to the Coens. The CD&V is going to have to adjust it or the light will go out. “The changes in society are simply too great. The parties as they exist now will not exist. However, you may be able to get the engine out of the new ones, starting from the basic philosophy. To me, the CD&V, which is the engine of. Otherwise, someone else with different ideas.”

now That basic philosophy can be summed up as a solidarity with the past, the present and the future. “With the past, because we have our roots, our traditions, our values. In the present, because we care for the most vulnerable people in society. In the future, we want to the planet in order to leave behind for our children and our grandchildren.”

a Fresh look

the Coens remains quite philosophical on the question of how high up he is, his opportunities for wealth. “I have no idea. I’m not a single department had been. I’m a little bit of the outside world, right? I’m twenty years out of politics, at the national level. However, I’m local and I don’t see it as havenbaas what’s going on at the international level. I don’t think that I have a fresh look to you.”

But, as an outsider, he can be in the analysis, which is sharper than that of some of his followers. The Flemish government coalition agreement for example. “In Leuven, lives for about 17 per cent of the population is living in poverty, and we are concerned about the color of the sash of the mayor. That’s what the people want? We need to get them to mobilize, we need to get them hot for the political process. I hear too often of people do you Love to work with this quantity. ? Then we are not doing a good job?”