Belgium Still Without National Government After Nearly Four Months

[Hootad Binky]

Belgium - still waiting for a government

by Remco de Jong
01-10-2007

The political crisis, which has been gripping Belgium for months, is entering a new phase now that the Christian Democrat Yves Leterme has been charged with forming a new government. This will be his second attempt at trying to reach a compromise between the diametrically opposed interests of the Flemish and Walloon parties.


Map of Belgium showing the language divisions, with
German spoken by a very small minority living along
the border with Germany. French is the dominant
language in the capital, Brussels, despite the city's
location inside Dutch-speaking Flanders.

In a nutshell, the crisis was sparked by a difference of opinion on the future structure of the Belgian state. The Flemish want autonomy in as many policy fields as possible, while the French-speaking Walloons want to retain a strong federal state that looks after the interests of all Belgians. This is primarily dictated by the fear that the Walloon provinces would never be able to pay for its own needs. The far wealthier Flemish have no such concern. Reform
The crisis began during the election campaigns this spring. Nearly all Flemish parties promised the voters a far-reaching reform of the state, to ensure Flanders would be able to make its own decisions in an even larger number of policy fields.

However, the Flemish parties failed to mention that such drastic reforms would require the support of the French-language parties. Belgium's constitution makes it impossible for the six million Flemings to impose their will unilaterally on their four million French-speaking compatriots.
The Flemish voters en masse cast their ballots for Yves Leterme; the leader of the Flemish Christian Democratic party CD&V. Leterme won no less than 800,000 preferential votes. It was a signal from the voters who wanted to reward the leader of a party that had spent eight years in opposition.

No inclination

It was clear that Mr Leterme was the man to lead a new government coalition with the country's conservative parties. But it soon became clear that the French-language parties had no inclination to cooperate on state reform.

The bad atmosphere between Mr Leterme and the French-language parties took a turn for the worse due to a series of unfortunate media incidents. In July, when a French journalist asked him to sing the Belgian national anthem, he spontaneously burst into the Marseillaise. The unfortunate mistake was extensively discussed in the French-language media, and interpreted as a sign that Mr Leterme did not care about the future of the country, but only about Flemish interests.

No future

Meanwhile, the Belgian electorate began to get seriously worried about the country's future. Reputable foreign newspapers began to write about the impending break-up of the country and concluded that the federal Belgian state no longer had a future. Large numbers of residents in the capital Brussels hung the national flag from their windows as a sign that they wanted to preserve the union.

The events of the past few days have again highlighted the yawning gap between the positions of the two sides. French-language parties have been unanimously demanding that several Flemish municipalities be added to the bi-lingual city of Brussels if the Flemings persist with their demand that the Brussels electoral district be split in two.

Such a split would mean that French-speaking residents of the Flemish municipalities surrounding the capital would no longer be able to cast their vote for a French-speaking politician. The division would also mean they would lose the right to use their own language to conduct a law suit. However, the Flemish parties refuse to consider ceding even a square inch of territory, which makes the impasse complete.

No alternative

The only reason that King Albert of the Belgians has now appointed someone to form a new government any way is that the politicians involved can't see any alternative. In a certain sense, this decision fits with the country's surrealist tradition as personified by the famous Belgian painter René Magritte: negotiations will be conducted, even though everyone knows full well that there is no chance of an agreement.

Not until the Flemish parties make it clear to their voters that the promised state reform is not going to materialise any time soon will there be any chance of agreement. That, however, could take several weeks.

Belgium - still waiting for a government - Radio Netherlands Worldwide - Independent thinking, independent voice - English

[sabang]

^ Well lets face it. The country is no worse off for it.

[kk boy]

Just completed a course there near Waterloo and the brothels were operational, so things ain't grinding to a halt

[watterinja]

Perhaps the democratic forms of government we have become used to, are no longer useful? Time for a re-think on connected, borderless societies, under a network management arrangement.

[Thormaturge]

So will the UN be sending a Diplomatic envoy to Brussels?

When the Belgians do finally settle on a new Prime minister it would perhaps be a good idea if he/she at least knew that le Marsellaise was the French National Anthem, and not the Belgian one.

[Texpat]

Perhaps the democratic forms of government we have become used to, are no longer useful? Time for a re-think on connected, borderless societies, under a network management arrangement.

I rather fancy a solidly democratic form of government, thanks.

[Hootad Binky]

They are defacto separate states, perfectly capable of functioning on their own!

[mad_dog]

Belgium is an misbirth of the Concert of Europe. Sovereign states and nation states are two different things

[chinthee]

Very sorry to say this as I'm a Francophile, but really the Flemish have made that country all that it is. Most of the industrial, technological or educational strengths have been created by the Dutch folks.

[Fabian]

Teh funny thing is I hear for the first time that they don't have a government (and that there is a german minority). I guess even a lot of Belgians have not noticed.