"As the system crumbles, solidarity sparks hope"

Dear friends, dear comrades,

What we're experiencing today is solidarity. That's what you represent today. Solidarity means ManiFiesta, where more than 17,000 of us are gathering this weekend. Solidarity is all those volunteers who make this festival possible. A huge, huge thank you to everyone for your dedication.

Solidarity is also what we experienced this summer in the High Fens.

Like many of you, I was shocked by the images. The Fens on fire. Smoke. The fire spreading along a long ridge of fire on the horizon. Shocked. Sad. Stunned.

And then I heard Pierre Kringels on television. Pierre is a farmer. He had come to help. Hitch up the truck, attach the tank, fill the tank at the dam, and head back toward the fire line. All night long. Alongside firefighters from across the country. And he wasn't alone. There were hundreds like him.

Pierre said he hadn't slept for 44 hours so he could bring water. "I'm going home to get a few hours of sleep," he said. "Then I'll come back to lend a hand tonight. We stand together, we move forward together, we hold each other's hands."

Pierre, someone like you and me.

And that is the solidarity we are celebrating here at ManiFiesta. The solidarity of ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things. The solidarity of all those who stick together as the system crumbles and governments fail. This solidarity, dear friends and comrades, always comes from the grassroots. That's what makes us strong.

Dear friends and comrades, we have lived through a summer we will not soon forget. A summer of extreme heat. Fires like we'd never seen before. Nearly 3,000 people who died—not from a virus, not in an accident, but from the heat.

And this summer, which we thought was exceptional, may—with the climate crisis—become the norm.

Angelo Carlucci, our colleague from the CGT—the firefighter who was here just a moment ago—reminded us: For more than 40 years now, scientists have been warning us about the climate crisis. And yet, the energy transition is completely blocked, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

Not because green technology doesn't exist. Not because there isn't any money. But because continuing to invest in fossil fuels simply yields higher profits for the major oil multinationals.

What we saw this summer was the logic of capitalism—the drive to make a profit in order to make even more profit—coming into conflict with the logic of our planet. The only place in this universe where we, human beings, can live.

According to this logic, nature is a dump. Human beings: a cost. And profit is sacred.

The extreme summer heat has proven it once again.

Only under capitalism, in the middle of a heatwave, does the management of a large store triple the price of fans, but refuse to let the cashiers have one.

Only under capitalism are factories stopped only when the machines get too hot, while the workers, for their part, must continue to work even when the heat becomes unbearable.

Profit determines everything. Not people's needs and health.

The planet is burning, and the fossil fuel industry is raking in record profits. And that's no coincidence. The capitalist system is doing exactly what it was designed to do. And that, dear friends and comrades, is exactly what we want to change.

In fact, it is this very same thirst for profit that drives multinational corporations and their governments in the U.S. or in Europe to resort to the most brutal form of destruction of humanity and nature, namely... war.

War because the United States sees its power slipping through its fingers with the rise of other economic actors.

War, because their dominance over the world is increasingly being challenged.

Because of the economic crisis in the imperialist center, the United States kidnaps the leaders of other countries, bombs their people, or strangles them economically if they refuse to submit to its world order.

They need to conquer new markets. Control trade routes and raw materials. Secure profit margins. And weaken competitors.

For all these reasons Trump is waging wars all over the world. No fewer than 9 countries have been bombed by the United States since Trump took office.

And that is why Theo Francken and Georges-Louis Bouchez support him in his war crimes. According to them, Trump's wars are our wars. Without the slightest bit of shame.

But who pays the price? The peoples of the world. The people who die under the bombs or are thrown onto the roads of exile. Parents who have lost their children. People who have been maimed for life. And so do we, here, with our purchasing power.

Because while the war continues in the Strait of Hormuz, two things are happening.

On the one hand, our energy bill is skyrocketing.

On the other hand, the eight largest multinational oil companies raked in nearly 80 billion euros in profits in just three months. Nearly double the previous year's figure.

The extra price we pay is the extra profit the oil giants make.

And this too, dear friends, is no coincidence.

This is the very logic that we refuse to accept, here at ManiFiesta.

And in the face of this logic we will build an alternative.

Dear friends, dear comrades, in this world that’s falling apart, our government is doing exactly the opposite of what needs to be done.

When Theo Francken reportedly spotted drones flying over Zaventem, an emergency meeting of the National Security Council was immediately convened. 50 million euros, just laid out on the table like that. Right away.

But what about the 3,000 people who died in this summer's heat wave? Or while the Fens went up in smoke? Nothing. No emergency meeting. No emergency plan. Not a single euro has been released. Firefighters, nursing homes, daycare centers... they'll just have to figure it out on their own.

On the other hand, what exactly did the government do this summer, when energy prices were threatening to skyrocket? Raise excise taxes. Make gas even more expensive! Who could come up with something like that?

They’re pouring billions into buying military equipment, they’re letting the climate go to hell, they’re making our bills more expensive… and what does Theo Francken have to say about it, from the edge of his pool? "LEEF!" " LIVE!" "Have a little beer, and above all, stop complaining."

That line of reasoning, my friends, is something we will never accept!

If there's one thing this government has told us over and over again, it's this: there's no money. What about pensions? There's no money. What about salaries? There's no money. For the climate? There's no money.

But I have some good news for the government: we've found the money.

Our study department ooked into the richest 1% in Belgium. And what do we discover? That they enriched themselves by 22 billion euros over the last year. An additional 22 billion! Over the past year. At the same time, the poorest 50% lost purchasing power.

The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. That's what we want to change with the PVDA-PTB.

As soon as we talk about making the super-rich contribute, there is one who blocks everything and gesticulates on all TV platforms to say how unjust it would be to tax the super-rich. You've guessed who I'm talking about. I'm obviously talking about Georges-Louis Bouchez.

And what does Georges-Louis Bouchez tell us? "Oh, we're not going to add yet another tax."

But, Mr. Bouchez, when it comes to raising taxes on workers, there’s no blockage at all. To impose a vehicle tax paid by the people—that's a free-for-all. To increase property tax across the country, following your suffocation of the cities, you have no scruples. Raise tuition for students to 1,200 euros? Take it easy. Raise Gas Excise Taxes in the middle of an Energy Crisis? It goes down a treat. But when it comes to making multimillionaires pay, that's where things come to a complete standstill. What hypocrisy.

But no one can stop an idea whose time has come. More than 80 percent of the public supports the millionaires' tax, Mr. Bouchez. The social movement is behind the measure. Let's work together to make this idea a reality, dear friends!

We want a real tax on millionaires. The Real One. The authentic one. Why the real thing and not a pale imitation? Because we really should only target the wealthiest 1%. No way out. Without loopholes. It must be ambitious and generate at least 8 billion.

Did you hear that? Vooruit has launched a petition calling for a millionaire's tax. And Les Engagés are boasting on TV shows that they want to tax wealth. Oh my!

As you know, we don't use copyright—we use copyleft. Anyone can use our suggestions—the more, the better. But no bad copies, okay? Not a mini-tax that serves as an alibi to make a new wave of austerity go down.

Because, dear friends of Vooruit and Les Engagés: While you have been in office, the wealthiest 1% has seen its wealth increase by 22 billion euros in one year. And in that case, you didn't go looking for anything at all. At the same time, half the population lost purchasing power last year. And yet, it was the workers who had to foot the bill. With the theft of pensions. With the blocking of the index. With Frank Vandenbroucke making medicines more expensive. This has to stop.

We don't need a poor copy. We need a real millionaires' tax—the real thing. Because that's your problem. You're not looking for an alternative to all these cuts. You're looking for an excuse to raise the sales tax and make medical care more expensive.

A real millionaires' tax will get the money from where it is: among the super-rich and multimillionaires. And it brings in at least 8 billion. That's what we need today.

You can feel it everywhere, dear friends and comrades: the government's spin isn't working anymore. The sales spin of "there is no alternative". Of course there's an alternative. With the millionaires' tax. With an end to the arms race. Along with the refinancing of our social security system.

—I permit myself a parenthesis—it is also because this patter no longer works that the government is trying to reduce this alternative to silence. It is trying to criminalize social resistance and muzzle the right to demonstrate and organize.

But make no mistake: Such undemocratic measures are not a sign of strength. They are a sign of weakness. Because a government that is confident of its popular support does not need to silence people or fear resistance.

Comrades, tonight, Manu Chao will be here on this stage. I have to tell you: I'm a huge fan. And especially from my favorite album: “Próxima Estación: Esperanza”. Next stop: hope.

What Manu Chao is singing for us is that we should never give up. For our children. For our friends. For our class.

And that makes me think of Pierre Kringels. A farmer gets into his tractor, fills up his tank, and drives toward the fire in the Fens. Then a second one arrives. A third one. Hundreds of people are on the move. "We stand together, we move forward together, we hold hands."

In this act, in this solidarity, lies the seed of a different world.

With every action, every demonstration, every strike—and through thousands of small acts of solidarity and resistance—we are gradually building a new balance of power. And it's happening everywhere.

In response to Trump, millions of people are taking to the streets. In Minneapolis, the working class has mobilized against ICE agents, who were sent to spread fear and hunt people down.

In Germany, a new generation of young people are stepping out of their classrooms, lecture halls, or workshops for the first time saying: no to military service, no to spending billions for war.

Facing the genocide in Palestine stands an international solidarity movement, wider and wider.

And just look at our own country. Bart De Wever and Bouchez, along with their government, wanted to run us over like a bulldozer with their agenda of social dismantling and militarization.

But in the face of this bulldozer, a movement has grown like nothing we've seen in years. Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. General strikes. Healthcare workers, railroad workers, factory workers, teachers, young people, office workers, firefighters. And many other sectors.

Along with people from culture, the feminist movement, and so many others. People who had never gone on strike before and who, for the first time, joined the social movement. With young people everywhere at these demonstrations. A lot of young people.

And this struggle continues, comrades.

That is why I want to make one thing very clear here today. To Bart De Wever. To Bouchez. To the entire government. The social movement isn't going to stop.

Unions are calling for a national protest on October 9 and further actions thereafter against the new austerity measures. They're absolutely right. We'll be there, and there will be a lot of us.

The government wanted to convince us that working longer was inevitable. That austerity was necessary. That spending billions on weapons was a given. That ordinary people had to pay again while the super-rich remained out of reach.

But the government has lost the debate over the legitimacy of its measures. Two-thirds of the country support or understand the social movement. A majority believes that this government is targeting the elderly, the sick, and women while protecting the wealthiest. Support for the surge in military spending is waning.

But every time we put forward alternatives that break out of the dominant framework, the government says, “That’s not realistic”. But if this framework constantly leads us to war, social upheaval, and climate chaos, then it is not our ambition that is unrealistic. It is unrealistic to stick to this framework. If the framework no longer holds up, we need to think outside the box.

Yes, we need a different kind of society. One that isn't driven by profit, but by the needs of people and our planet. A society in which the interests of the majority take precedence over those of a small group. A socialist society.

It's not just a distant dream. This is the struggle that is already underway today. And that is also where our role as a party comes in.

We want to stand alongside all these people who are taking action. Standing alongside those who are fighting to protect their purchasing power. Standing with those who want to make millionaires pay. Standing with workers who are fighting to protect their pensions and wages. Standing alongside young people who oppose militarization. Alongside all those who speak out against Trump's war-mongering policies. Standing with the movement for Palestine. Standing alongside those who are fighting for a just climate transition. Alongside firefighters and farmers who protect nature. And to all those who, today—sometimes for the first time—are saying: “I won’t put up with this anymore”.

Our role is to support these forces, bring them together, and strengthen them. To turn isolated struggles into solidarity. Solidarity into organization. And organizing it into a force capable of changing society.

That is why, in the coming year, we will stand alongside all those who are fighting. Not just to block what they want to impose on us, but to build something else together.

A different way of thinking. Another society. Another world.

A world that meets the aspirations of the working world.

That world is called socialism.

And it will come to fruition thanks to our efforts. Everywhere in the world

We won't give up on the fight—thank you, ManiFiesta.