Bye bye Leterme

[bub]

FT.com / World - Belgium edges towards political crisis

He has resigned yesterday, and won't be back.

Not only, he has lost most of it credibility (after having resigned 4 times, confusing our anthem with the French one, taking 194 days to form a government coalition, unsolved tensions between Flemish and Walloons, and the final blow is the Fortisgate) but also he said he didn't want to come back again.

The Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters said he didn't want to be prime minister neither. Same for the president of the Walloon liberal party Didier Reynders, who said he would not be candidate (because of the Walloon socialists)

The flemish socialists and walloon ecologists refuse to be part of the government.

So, we don't know who could be candidate. There are no "new generation" politicians that are known in both Wallonia and Flanders and that could be accepted. That was already the problem of Yves Leterme, who was primarily seen as a flemish, in spite of his efforts.

That's why some people are talking about calling back former politicians, such as Jean-Luc Dehaene or Guy Verhofstadt (who already formed an interim government last year when Yves Leterme was unable to do so), because they were liked in both parts. But Dehaene is a bit old and Verhofstadt doesn't want to be prime minister again (I think he prefers to be a politician on the European level)

There is also Marianne Thyssen, leader of the CD&V (flemish christian democrats), but she is totally unknown in Wallonia (her wikipedia page in French is one line long!)

 

[Oftencold]

FT.com / World - Belgium edges towards political crisis

He has resigned yesterday, and won't be back.

Not only, he has lost most of it credibility (after having resigned 4 times, confusing our anthem with the French one, taking 194 days to form a government coalition, unsolved tensions between Flemish and Walloons, and the final blow is the Fortisgate) but also he said he didn't want to come back again.

The Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters said he didn't want to be prime minister neither. Same for the president of the Walloon liberal party Didier Reynders, who said he would not be candidate (because of the Walloon socialists)

The flemish socialists and walloon ecologists refuse to be part of the government.

So, we don't know who could be candidate. There are no "new generation" politicians that are known in both Wallonia and Flanders and that could be accepted. That was already the problem of Yves Leterme, who was primarily seen as a flemish, in spite of his efforts.

That's why some people are talking about calling back former politicians, such as Jean-Luc Dehaene or Guy Verhofstadt (who already formed an interim government last year when Yves Leterme was unable to do so), because they were liked in both parts. But Dehaene is a bit old and Verhofstadt doesn't want to be prime minister again (I think he prefers to be a politician on the European level)

There is also Marianne Thyssen, leader of the CD&V (flemish christian democrats), but she is totally unknown in Wallonia (her wikipedia page in French is one line long!)

It sounds like that just leaves you!

How do we address a Prime Minister? Your Excellency? Your Lordship? We Americans tend to be very provincial about these things.

 

[bub]

It sounds like that just leaves you!

I would not be candidate neither

It's not rare that they have to work until 2 or 3am 7/7 if there is a crisis! One of my teachers has worked as an adviser for a politician, he said he could sleep only a few hours per night!

And it's so stressing that they all get health troubles: Yves Leterme got an stomach ulcer, Verhofstadt got hearth problems...

A last thing is that it's a bad period too: economic crisis, inflation, record number of bankrupt businesses, political mess around Brussels, the judiciary, legislative & executive branchs attacking each others, flemish and walloons attacking each other, liberals, catholics and socialists attacking each others...

How do we address a Prime Minister? Your Excellency? Your Lordship?

I think it's just "Mister the Prime Minister"

But I want to be a despot, not a prime minister!

We Americans tend to be very provincial about these things.

What do you mean?


[/QUOTE]

 

[Oftencold]

We Americans tend to be very provincial about these things.

What do you mean?

Most of us have no idea how to address the different title and ranks in other countries.

While individual exceptions certainly abound, as a people we have always been rather reluctant to familiarize ourselves in the societies and cultures of other lands.

Overall, it can be said that we are a strangely rural people, even many of us who live in large cities.

 

[bub]

The King has accepted the resignation, and has appointed Wilfried Martens (72) "explorer"

He is a former prime minister (from 1979 to 1992) experienced with crisises like these and, as an "explorer", his role will be to find out a solution, that's to say create a new government coalition.

In order to do this, he is going to meet the presidents of the political parties (liberals, catholics, socialists and ecologists, from both parts of the country) and the presidents of the Senate and of the Parliament.

However, I'm not optimistic. If he does not take the same coalition (with a new prime minister, but who??), it could take months, and it will be like last year, we are going to stay 9 months without government, without anyone to lead the country.

Fortunately, Belgium is very decentralized and many competences are exerced by regional/community governments, but with the economic crisis I don't think it's the good period to be without federal government.

 

[bub]

Most of us have no idea how to address the different title and ranks in other countries.

While individual exceptions certainly abound, as a people we have always been rather reluctant to familiarize ourselves in the societies and cultures of other lands.

Overall, it can be said that we are a strangely rural people, even many of us who live in large cities.

it's not the ancient régime anymore, you don't have to adress nobles in a special way!!!

whoever you meet, just call him "monsieur" (french) or "mijnheer" (dutch) and shake his hand. Maybe if it's a very high ranking official such as the prime minister, it could be "mister the prime minister", but if you meet him on the street I guess it will just be "mister"

 

[bub]

We got a new prime minister: Herman Van Rompuy*.

He is a moderate flemish christian democrat, and was the president of the senate. Other possible candidates were
- Didier Reynders, walloon liberal, but the socialists used their veto
- Guy Verhofstadt, flemish liberal, but the christian democrats used their veto
- J.L. Dehaene, flemish christian democrat, but the liberals used their veto

So, Herman Van Rompuy is going to form a new government coalition. This time it will be fast, as the parties from the former coalition all agreed to form the same coalition. The only change is that we've got a new prime minister, and a new minister of justice.

The funny thing is that
- people don't want him to be prime minister (he was not elected as such)
- he doesn't want to be prime minister



(* it's not yet official, he is only "formateur", which means that he is the one who forms the government coalition, but "formateurs" usually become prime minister once it is done)