King Albert II Forming a New Goverment, 2007-2011

[Marengo]

Well, my fatehr was in Belgium last week and he said that whenever he discussed the formation of a goverment the Belgian he talked to would immidiately and almost triumphantly say that the longest Dutch formation took 208 days, so in that light the Belgian one isn´t too bad. Still, with the solution so far away I think the 208 days is slowly approaching.

In the mean time Mr. Leterme made some undiplomatic comments about the RBTF, comparing it to a Rwandese state channel that had propaganda, it is said that this blunder will cost him the premiership

--

As the political crisis will probably continue for a while, some think an emergency government should be formed:

Emergency government is an option

Parties accept the idea of forming an emergency government to be able to deal with the most urgent issues at hand

10 December 2007 - The Flemish Christian democrat (CD&V) and liberal (Open VLD) parties accept the idea of forming an emergency government to be able to deal with the most urgent issues at hand. This possibility was discussed during the VRT current affairs TV show 'De zevende dag'.

Read the entire expatica article here.

[stephanievl]

Interim government appointed

Fri 21/12/07 - King Albert of the Belgians has formally appointed Guy Verhofstadt as Belgium's new Prime Minister. Mr Verhofstadt, who has been the Belgian Prime Minister since 1999, will lead an interim government until Easter.

the whole article
flandersnews.be - Interim government appointed

Pictures
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[norwegianne]

Well, then things will get moving in Belgium, for a while.

[Marengo]

Not really, the interim goverment is just there because there are some current affairs that have to be dealt with, but the ´real´ goverment still has to be formed and can that can take even longer now.

[Marengo]

This cartoon won a Dutch competition as cartoon ofn the year. For those who know Suske & Wiske cartoon it is pretty obvious what is meant....

[Empress]

Oh my! That's a rather blatant statement. What is the situation with the government? I hate to say it, but I've been so preoccupied with other things, that I just have not had a chance to really follow this particular event.

On another note, what's going on with the Flemish and the Walloons? I assume that they are still bleating on about turning Belgium into one or several countries... Does anyone really take that seriously, and if so, I wonder what the chances are of something like that really happening.

[Marengo]

Well, there is a preliminairy government which is ruling the country under the former prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. They have mre authority than the usual demissionair government, so... The parties are still negociating and this prel. government takes away pressure from them so they all can dig themselves in even further. In the mean time Yves Leterme, the one who is supposed to become prime minister is in hospital and will only be out on the 20th of March, so another delay.

[Marengo]

Some politicians leaked information from their blackberry to the press last week. Some of the information was about the king (and all of it about the formation of a government). Apart from the tapes there are even some politicians talking on television what the King and they spoke about during the meetings, which is unprecidented (it is supposed to stay between the walls of Laeken Castle). Anyway, some of the information:

- The King and court thought that the NV-A was/is responsible for the present crisis, and that they have extremist tendencies.

- The Palace hates the 'kartel' between NV-A and the Flemish Chistian Democrats

- The King never forgave Leterme (Prime Minister to-be) for publicly correcting the King about seperatism

- Reynders gave the King the impression that all would be settled quickly, which didn't happen. He thought that half August everything would be ready and the King could start his revalidation, but that did not work out.

- The King was very impressed by van Rompuy who mislead the King

- The King almost overstepped his constitutional boundaries when he tried to save the 'Orange-Blue' coalition

- Only halfway November the court realised that things were leading nowhere and the name of Verhofstadt began to circulate

Some anecdotes:

A statesman went to the a meeting with the King in Laeken. Ehen the King asked him what he wanted to drink the statesman asked for a Port. Now that is against court etiquette as you are only supposed to ask for water, tea or coffee. The King however thought it a good plan and asked the lackey for two glasses of Port, as he wanted to take it himself as well. The lackey was puzzled by this breach of etiquette and came back with: one glass of Port for the statesman and one glass of water for the King!

Another anecdote, when the chairman of a political party asked about the KJings health (which is against etiquette) the King replied 'Och, we are old and don't feel too well. I would realy like to be able to go on holidays, but sadly that isn't possible anymore'

Source: Het Nieuwsblad

[norwegianne]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Another anecdote, when the chairman of a political party asked about the KJings health (which is against etiquette) the King replied 'Och, we are old and don't feel too well. I would realy like to be able to go on holidays, but sadly that isn't possible anymore'

That's telling them.

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by norwegianne

That's telling them.

Well, it didn't spur the politicians to work harder, sadly.
They are still talking and talking but IMO because this has been dragging on for months the news-value gets less and the sense of urgency is somehwat less too 9as the old government is governing now). So there seem to be less speculations about breaking up.

Anyway, the whole affair gives photoshoppers, cartoonists etc. an ideal topic, Look here for King Albert on a well-known film poster.

[Marengo]

Good news for Belgium and for King Albert II, finally the quarreling political parties have come to an agreement. King ALbert II will swear in the government this thursday!

A good accord with concrete measures"
(Belga)
Tue 18/03/08 - Following marathon meetings lasting 21 hours the five majority parties reached a deal to form a new national government. This ends a nine-month political stalemate after the June 10 elections.



At 6:30 in the morning Prime Minister Designate Yves Leterme (Flemish Christian democrat) announced, "We've reached a good government accord with a lot of concrete measures."

From Flandersnews.be, read the entire article here.

[LadyLeana]

And yet again the Belgian troubles continue...
Prime Minister Leterme has announced the government will resign, but King Albert has not yet accepted the resignation.
We all hold our hearts to know what will happen next...
Some articles in Dutch:
deredactie.be - Welk konijn tovert koning Albert uit zijn hoed?
deredactie.be - "Yves Leterme moet premier blijven"

Some foreign newspapers:

• NOS: Leterme biedt koning ontslag aan
• NRC Handelsblad: Leterme biedt ontslag regering aan
• De Volkskrant: Belgische premier biedt ontslag aan
• Het Algemeen Dagblad: Belgische premier Leterme treedt af

• Le Monde: La démission du premier ministre Yves Leterme ravive la crise belge
• Le Figaro: Le premier ministre belge présente sa démission
• Libération: Belgique: le Premier ministre baisse les bras
• TF1/LCI: Belgique: Démission du Premier ministre: le roi réserve sa response
• France info: Le retour de la crise politique en Belgique

• Frankfurter Allgemeine: Belgien schlittert in neue Staatskrise
• ARD: Premier Leterme erneut gescheitert

• CNN: Belgian premier offers resignation
• BBC: Belgian MP offers his resignation

• El País: El rey Alberto II inicia las consultas para estudiar la dimisión del primer ministro

*sigh*
To be continued...

[Marengo]

Well, we saw that one coming... it was predicted the government would fall in July when it wasn't even installed. I suppose the King will have a busy summer vacacion, and a ruined National Day (unless the silent majority of Belgians will use that day to demonstrate they want an end to this division).
I suppose there are two scenario's: the king refuses the resignation of Leterme and the parties have to negociate for a zillionth time or there will be new elections maybe? Elections resulting in simular blocks probably, so simular negociations.

Thanks for providing all the articles btw.

[Stefanie]

Might this crisis led to the abolition of the Belgian monarchy?

[Odette]

Goodness, I was watching the latest financial news in the US on TV and was wondering.........what's next?? Then read the captions under the program about the US mess and read about the Belgian problem..........Hope all concerned find a way to agree and form a government and keep it all together.

[johann]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well, we saw that one coming... it was predicted the government would fall in July when it wasn't even installed. I suppose the King will have a busy summer vacacion, and a ruined National Day (unless the silent majority of Belgians will use that day to demonstrate they want an end to this division).
I suppose there are two scenario's: the king refuses the resignation of Leterme and the parties have to negociate for a zillionth time or there will be new elections maybe? Elections resulting in simular blocks probably, so simular negociations.

Yep, happy National Day, wearing black and dancing on the ruins of the Leterme I government. At least Leterme won´t sing the Marseillaise this time. And to make things even trickier. New federal elections could be considered as unconstitutional since there is no final decision taken in the Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde question.
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess we get the same scenario as last year. Albert consults the party leaders and ministers of state in the coming days to gain some time and perhaps there will be an interim government or a new formateur. This afternoon he received the chairman of the Senate and the prime ministers of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
And the self declared Mr. goed bestuur (=efficient governance) Leterme won´t have Verhofstadt helping him out this time I guess. That´s what you get when you opt for a party alliance with the separatist N-VA and promise things you can´t keep. And Leterme´s lousy negotiation style doesn´t help either. High time to come to senses. And that also applies for his party CD&V and their strange addiction to Bart De Wever (N-VA) and co. - and especially for the francophone parties and their permanent “non” policy.

[Marengo]

Ah, so HBV has to be solved by Leterme and Madame Non... that isn't very hopeful. Mind you therte are other issues too, like the corridor the Walloons want to Brussels, as if the have to cross hostile terretory if they drive to Brussels through Flanders.

I wish some public demonstrations would be held in which the silent majority of the Belgians would stop being silent and give a different signal to their politicians, that kleeping their country is more dear to them than the present catfights about HBV and (even) more autonomy for Flanders.

Anyway, the king will be asking for advice till the end of the week. After that we will see what happens, but according to van den Wijngaert it is unlikely the king will refuse Leterme's resignation. On a brighter note: I read in a Dutch newspaper that Leterme's incompetence might lead to his removal and with Kris Peeters as the new CD&V leader. If they can replace the Walloon leaders too we can start the whole process all over again. Anyway... until the Walloons start doing some concessions instead of saying 'Non' to basically everything there won't be any progress, in the negociations the Flemish already did some concessions that haven't been greeted with much enthausiasm in Flanders. That is what I read in the papers anyway, though my Dutch newspapers might be colored by Flemish sympathies.

[LadyLeana]

CdH leader Joelle Milquet has proposed a new deadline: a solution must be found by the 21 July...
I guess she believes the King can perform magic tricks?
The latest guesses for the future of Belgium: Yves Leterme remains head of a government that only concerns itself with the socio-economic problems, while the regions will try and come up with a constitutional solution...

To be continued still...

[Marengo]

Well, that would at least mean that the other things can be dealt with.
I read that the king yesterday invited the PM's of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German part to the palace. I think it was the first time he consulted them on such a matter, which is intresting considering there are voices that are in favour of the regions sorting it out by themsleves.

The Telegraaf reminded us that the king is in a difficult position at the moment. Last summer he was first accused of being too often on holidays and not that much involved with the process, only to be later accused of having performed some mini coup d'etat and being too much involved.

[LadyLeana]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well, that would at least mean that the other things can be dealt with.
I read that the king yesterday invited the PM's of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German part to the palace. I think it was the first time he consulted them on such a matter, which is intresting considering there are voices that are in favour of the regions sorting it out by themsleves.

yep, it was the first time. He even consulted them before he consulted the leaders of the political parties (which he is doing today). I guess the King would rather have a confederal state to rule than no state at all.