"The PVDA-PTB is on the rise"

Raoul Hedebouw spoke at his party's electoral congress in early March, claiming: "more and more people want an end to the current policy and are craving left wing solutions". "A large majority of the population wants a wealth tax, and we're the only party putting forward this demand. We represent the social alternative to the liberal status quo and the nationalist bloc of hatred in the north of the country and we are growing and giving hope," continued the party president.

The PVDA-PTB's electoral programme contains a total of 1,309 proposals across 56 chapters. There are 4 key themes: fair taxation, purchasing power, a social climate policy and the fight against political privileges. 

To reach these priorities, the PVDA-PTB used "The Big Survey": "We have collected 104,098 surveys since September," explains Raoul Hedebouw. “104,098 conversations. Listening to people in the field, in the work place or online. No other party does that. It's an enormous asset. Many people want an alternative and want to get involved. Our Big Survey was a democratic tour de force and we're very proud of it.”

These are our 4 key themes and 8 main proposals:

1. Fair taxation

Belgium is a tax hell for workers and small businesses, but a tax paradise for multinationals. The PVDA-PTB demands fair taxation: it's high time multi-millionaires and profitable multinationals contribute to society.

• 2% tax for the 1%. Poverty is on the rise, but multi-millionaires pay no tax on their wealth. PS and Ecolo promised they would tax the super rich. But once they were in government, they did nothing. Even worse, they increased the excise duty on our energy bills. We are calling for a fair tax of 2% on fortunes surpassing 5 million euros, and 3% on those surpassing 10 million. Our Wealth Tax affects only the richest 1% and can yield up to 8 billion euros. We want to abolish bank secrecy and step up the fight against tax evasion.

• Stop tax loopholes for multinationals. Workers and small businesses are heavily taxed, but multinationals escape taxation by taking advantage of loopholes in the law. We lose billions of euros because of it every year. Enough is enough. The strongest shoulders must carry the heaviest loads. 25% is 25%: profitable multinationals have to pay the same corporate tax rate as everyone else. We will eliminate all tax niches for large companies. We're fighting secret tax constructions in tax havens.

2. Purchasing power

These last years almost everything has become more expensive. And not by a little. On the other hand, our salaries have not increased. Meanwhile, many large companies are making record profits precisely because of these high prices. And what does the government do? They decided to freeze ... our salaries. We want to protect people's purchasing power by raising wages and lowering prices.

• VAT at 0% for food and basic necessities. Why do we pay taxes on bread, milk or toilet paper? After all, these are basic necessities. The PVDA-PTB wants to abolish VAT on food and other basic products. That'll bring the price down. It's the Price Observatory's role to check whether the VAT reduction benefits consumers and does not serve to boost corporate profits. If prices don't come down, the government will intervene to block them.

• Increase wages. Even for working people, it's hard to make ends meet. Yet the government prohibits wage increases while big businesses make record profits. Let's cut the dividends for shareholders and raise our wages! We want to abolish the law that prohibits pay rises. The government uses it to prohibit wage increases exceeding indexation. Workers and unions must be free to negotiate wages. We're raising the minimum wage to 17 euros an hour.

3. Political privileges

Politicians waste public money on €4,000 chairs, €18,000 sofas and trips to Dubai. And they want to tell us that it's normal that life has become so expensive? And they think it's fair to reward themselves with lavish salaries of 7,000 to 15,000 euros a month, illegal pension supplements and golden parachutes. If we want politicians to be on the side of the people, we need to fundamentally change the political system itself. Let's put an end to their privileges and halve their salaries.

• Eliminate golden parachutes for members of parliament. Departing MPs receive golden parachutes (severance packages of up to 280,000 euros gross), while more and more workers are facing financial difficulties. The PVDA-PTB has been fighting this culture of personal enrichment and privilege in politics for years. We're eliminating severance pay for MPs. We treat MPs like ordinary workers, with the same social status.

• Fewer Ministers, more unity We have nine Health Ministers, but the prices at the dentist or hospital keep on rising. We have four Transport Ministers, but the trains are always late. This has to change. Fewer ministers, one single policy for the whole country: that's much more efficient and would be less costly. We want a single federal Minister for key areas such as health, transport, energy, climate and employment. We will reduce the number of Ministers, secretaries of state and cabinets by a third.

4. Climate

"You're on your own" that's Belgium's climate policy in a nutshell. The government tells us we need to use our cars less, but then raises train fares. And if you can't afford to renovate your home, you'll get fined. At the same time, the most polluting companies remain off the hook. The PVDA-PTB opts for social climate solutions, with better and more affordable public transport and lower renovation costs.

• Renovating your home is a right, not a punishment. We choose social climate policy. We want everyone to be able to live in a well-insulated home. That's why renovating your home should be a right, not a punishment. We suggest a third-party payment system, so that people can have access to insulation and other energy-saving renovations. It's good for the climate and good for our wallets. A public bank will lend the money for renovation. Just like in Germany. Repayment is made through savings on energy bills. We encourage renovation by street or neighbourhood. This saves time and cuts costs.

• Free, high-quality public transport. We want quality public transport that's punctual and free everywhere. Today, in Montpellier, as in 30 other French cities, buses and trams are free. Instead of punishing people with climate taxes, let's offer them a real transport alternative: let's develop public tram and bus companies and make them free to use. A stimulus plan will make sure that our buses, trams and trains are punctual and comfortable. With an ambitious investment plan, we'll expand the lines, day and night, from your job to your health club.

During his presentation of the program, Raoul Hedebouw also called out the president of the Socialist Party (PS): "When the PVDA-PTB proposes to revise the wage freeze law, a 0% VAT on basic products and a return to the pension age at 65, Paul Magnette claims "there's no such thing as a free lunch". But I'd like to tell Mr Magnette that these are not "free" measures, they're simply left-wing measures - most of which are actually in the PS program. We hope that the Socialist Party's strategy in these elections is not to put forward a left-wing program for the campaign and then throw out all its proposals in order to join a government," says Raoul Hedebouw. And he asks: "Will there be a real break with the former policy this time? For our part, we have a left-wing program that wants a real break from liberal policies, and we're not going to betray it. That's why people trust us," said the PVDA-PTB president.

The PVDA-PTB is organizing 160 electoral meetings across the country to present its program and continue to talk to people. "The challenge is to turn current support into a vote on June 9, and continue to build momentum. Because together, we can impose change," the PVDA-PTB president concluded.