King Albert II Forming a New Goverment, 2007-2008- ?

[LadyLeana]

LOL! Luckily 2/3 still have common sense!
Maybe they're thinking about a union between Amalia and Gabriel?
And the split still isn't happening. Il y a encore des Belges!

Apparently, after 177/178 years, people have forgotten that the Dutch reign is exactly what the Belgians united against. But the dislike must have lessened by now.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Marengo

GVA had a rather funny poll, for those who read dutch, look here. In the internetpoll 1/3 was in favour of a union with the Netherlands.

Now something remarkable: some respondants suggested that a Dutch princess and a Belgian prince should marry; their eldest child could be the ruler of the new country... As a capital even the very unremarkable Baarle-Hertog was suggested (A Belgian enclave in The Netherlands). And the countries name could be Vlaanderland or Nedervlaanderen...

Hilarious!

Or Baarle-Nassau,which,(for our foreign guests)..is a dutch enclave in Belgium,actually,you can have your hallway in The Netherlands,
and your bed in Belgium,as both enclave lay side by side,all cuddled up to one another.

That split in the 1830's,is often referred to as the most unnecessary and silliest revolution ever......but to have Flanders unite with us?Nah,better not..

[johann]

Originally Posted by LadyLeana

And the split still isn't happening. Il y a encore des Belges!

Apparently, after 177/178 years, people have forgotten that the Dutch reign is exactly what the Belgians united against. But the dislike must have lessened by now.

Originally Posted by lucien

That split in the 1830's,is often referred to as the most unnecessary and silliest revolution ever......but to have Flanders unite with us?Nah,better not..

LOL, visiting a Belgian or Dutch opera is still a safe activity. Phew.

[johann]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Aah, so if that is what get's you a Leopold I wonder... Did Amamo ever get one? For those who do not understand what we are talking about: Donnea was supposed to be one of the lovers of princess Paola.

Ahem, there are many honourable ways to get you an order of course (just like there are "50 ways to leave your lover" ). Being a politician sure isn´t obstructing the “get me an order” mission. But a good singer has the prospect of being bestowed with a noble title, Adamo is pleased to call himself a chevalier since 2005. Even better: do an Aldo, import some Martini (amongst other merits of course ), become a Baron AND get the Order of Leopold on top of it. Albert seems to be generous and I should stop gossiping.

Originally Posted by Marengo

Now something remarkable: some respondants suggested that a Dutch princess and a Belgian prince should marry; their eldest child could be the ruler of the new country... As a capital even the very unremarkable Baarle-Hertog was suggested (A Belgian enclave in The Netherlands). And the countries name could be Vlaanderland or Nedervlaanderen...

Oh, they could play it uber safe, go for a history repeating stunt and follow in the footsteps of Philip the Handsome or Charles V, a solid double marriage policy. Amalia, Gabriel, Alexia and Emmanuel should discuss this during their next sandbox meeting, secretly of course, not to upset Elisabeth who is left in the rain. Hach, I know at least one person who would be thrilled. Though I guess the little ones are not Habsburgian enough to be the happy regents of this cloud cuckoo land.

[Royal Fan]

So will Belgium be devolved is their hope Should The Duke of Brabant become Regent??

[Picmajik]

Originally Posted by paola

Having a constitutional monarchy does not mean that there are no elections.

True indeed. I would hope it's not the same level of hysteria as here at times but judging from press coverage overseas I see mudslinging is alive and well in most elections.

Originally Posted by paola

On the contrary, in the Netherlands for instance we have elections for the National Parliament every four years. And also elections for the Provincial States, the City Council and the European Parliament. And all with there own campaign and election day.

Every four years when a new parliament is chosen a new group of ministers form a new government. If all goes well that government can do his job for the whole four years, but the parliament can "send them home" or they can give in there resignation as they think that they cannot do there job anymore. In Belgium it is similar.

Thanks, that seems to be the difference. Here we have election terms of two or four years (depending on the position) but only the individual can resign the term and leave (or be forced out for criminal activity). I don't think we've run into the same no-confidence type situation as a whole; Congress isn't dismissed for re-elections. A special election may be held if needed for that particular office (representative or Senator) but Congress as a whole would still be in place and not considered a new Government. We have managed to impeach a President but they still managed to stay in office by winning the vote not to be removed.

So, if a new government is set up are the elections held on the same scheduled cycle as before or does that count reset? If elections normally would be scheduled for 2009 in general, would the new group wait for the end of term election cycle or would there still be a vote in 2009 as previously scheduled? It sounds like most elections are still held as they are here, every two years. Most of our terms are four years but often are scheduled for alternate years so we vote every two years, other special elections as they come up for referendums or special needs.

Now to stir up the pot--is the situation with Francophones in Belgium similar to the situation in Quebec where there are some folks who just want to be independent no matter what? That is what it's sounding like to me but just curious what it's like for someone there. Yes, I do know it's not all Francophones, just a few vocal ones wanting to stir things up for attention. I really hate to classify folks in groups in general but I was just curious. I appreciate wanting to celebrate one's heritage/culture and identify with a group but that isn't the same as inflicting that upon someone else if the other person isn't receptive to the idea. We just don't have any group so interested in seceding from the US (at least not for the past 144 years at least) that we would split at this time. I sure we may run into this later on but right now we're still working on trying to include everyone instead of splitting off.

[johann]

Seems Prime Minister Leterme manages to survive another deadline. King Albert´s mediators presented their report today and Albert elongated their mandate till the second half of September.
Here´s more about it:
deredactie.be - English - Political mediators allowed more time
The politicians gain some time this way and perhaps they are now able to enjoy a bit of summer holiday – unlike last year. Hope it helps them to get into a more constructive mode. The question is though, if Leterme´s party the Christian-Democrats will loose its party alliance member, the separatist N-VA, which was asking for guarantees for a state reform till this day. I wouldn’t mind if this misalliance finally breaks up, would make things easier imo.

In the meantime Senator Alain Destexhe, a francophone liberal, suggested asking a mediator from abroad to get out of the self-created mess. He thinks of the Norwegian Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. As long as he doesn´t ask for United Nations peacekeeping troops…