carmen510
Deity
No need to partition Belgium, so long as the people do not wish for that to happen. Unless of course somehow they begin to hate eachother and start a genocide or somewhat. 
Vive la Belgique!
- Thread starter Cato the Elder
- Start date
Winner
Diverse in Unity
No need to partition Belgium, so long as the people do not wish for that to happen. Unless of course somehow they begin to hate eachother and start a genocide or somewhat.
No need. The only thing you need is a long political impasse. Eventually even the moderates will start supporting a peaceful dissolution.
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
HUR HUR WE ARE ALL SO SMART, LETS GIVE WALLONIA TO FRANCE HUR HUR.
Ever thought off something like "the will of the poeple?"
Oh wait, you are eastern-european, I guess not.
The orangists and the rattachists are very small minorities here, and with a reason.
Man, I was questioning Winner's opinions, no need to be like that, you know? I was just wondering why he was attributing different "fates" to the two parts. There was not the SLIGHTEST idea of ME wanting to do something about this or supporting one way or another or interfering in any way with the politics over there.
The part with putting into my mouth the words "LET'S GIVE WALLONIA TO FRANCE" is almost offensive, you know? I did not make the slightest mention of that! AGAIN I was ONLY questioning Winner. And he answered in a very civil and understandable way.
philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
I'm reacting to the most common opinion here, you don't need to feel "special".
and seeing your reaction, now you get what i get when i read this thread.It's like a barrage of idiots saying something idiotic like, "let's give Moldavia Romania as a prtectorate or something".
Winner
Diverse in Unity
I'm reacting to the most common opinion here, you don't need to feel "special".
It's like a barrage of idiots saying something idiotic like, "let's give Moldavia Romania as a prtectorate or something".
Yeah, the innocent one has spoken
Jan H
Prince
How long does it have to be? We're at 18 months now...
At the moment, the King is "consulting his advisers". The most probable scenario right now seems to be that the current government somehow struggles along until June (possibly with another PM and a couple of other ministers replaced as well) and then have federal elections combined with the already scheduled regional annd European elections.
Winner
Diverse in Unity
Depends on the country, I guess. It took 3 years of political stalemate in Czechoslovakia to make the politicians agree on a split, but here the process was aggravated by post-communist economic hardships and nationalist sentiment in Slovakia.
That's exactly what the opposition here is calling for 
Winner
Diverse in Unity
Did you find it disturbing back when 90% of the people here on CFC applauded taking Kosovo from Serbia and recognizing its independence? I honestly don't remember, so nothing personal here, just an observation.
I don't think people mean it seriously here, we're just making fun of it. The decision is on the Belgians themselves, whatever that word means these days.
Well no, Moldavia is a region of an ethnicity, not vice-versa. What you would be suggesting is giving Flanders the Netherlands, when I am calling for the reverse. It would be giving Romania Moldavia.
philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
yes, you are technically right, but i was trying to find something for Mirc.
Anyway, in the newspaper (demorgen) there is a great article on the corelation between this by Leterme and Nixon and watergate.
Well, I guess Leterme is our Nixon then.
and btw guys, this scandal isn't even about the different communities or any struggles between them, it's about division of powers.
Jan H
Prince
What annoys me a lot, is that the Flemish Liberals are the ones who are making the most fuss about this 'division of the powers", while it was their government, lead by Guy verhofstad, who made the parlement mute by ruling through 'framework laws" (kaderwetten). But apparently the division between legislative and executive pozer is less important than the one between legislative and judiciary.
On top of that, Didier Reynders, the leader of the Francophone liberals has been VERY quiet, which I find very suspicious.
And did you notice that during the debates earlier this week, the Francophone Socialists were almost collectively absent from the parliament?
To me all this are signs that the current crisis is in fact just an extension of the ongoing 18 months
in my personal opinion, IF the curent government wants to go on until June (or beyond) without Yves Leterme as PM, the other vice-premiers (Patrick De Wael, Joel Milquet, Laurette Onckelinckx, if I'm right?) should go as well. Alll of them are just as responsible for the political crisis since June 2007
J-man
Deity
Remember that Nixon actually did some good things.
Jan H
Prince
Conclusions after the Sunday tv debates: Nobody wants to be PM of our country 
Leterme doesn't want to any more; Didier Reynders doens't; Herman Van Rompuy doesn't; Kris Peeters doesn't; Guy Verhofstadt: haven't heard anything from him in the last week; ...
Any suggestions?
Leterme doesn't want to any more; Didier Reynders doens't; Herman Van Rompuy doesn't; Kris Peeters doesn't; Guy Verhofstadt: haven't heard anything from him in the last week; ...
Any suggestions?
Cato the Elder
King
Conclusions after the Sunday tv debates: Nobody wants to be PM of our country
Leterme doesn't want to any more; Didier Reynders doens't; Herman Van Rompuy doesn't; Kris Peeters doesn't; Guy Verhofstadt: haven't heard anything from him in the last week; ...
Any suggestions?
The only problem there is, he might want to be PM, but nobody else wants him to.
FREE TIBET!
Jan H
Prince
Do you think he want's to be PM? Isn't it much better for him to stay in the opposition, where he can get away with his populistic rethoric, without having to come up with any real solutions?
(similar to that other opposition party that will never be in government...
)
Jan H
Prince
After a week of negotiation and mediation by fomer prime minister Wilfried Martens, King Albert has nemaed Herman Van Rompuy as "formateur" for a new governement. Van Rompuy is the president of the house of representatives (comaprable to the "speaker" in the UK). He was Budget secretary in the governemnts of Jean-Luc Dehaene in the 90's and he was supposed to replace Jean-Luc Dehaene if he would have become president of the European Commission. Only a couple of days, Van Rompuy had said that he absolutley did not want to become prime minister. But apparently the pressure from his party was too big, since there were no other acceptable candidates (the liberals vetoed Jean-Luc Dehaene)
http://www.cdenv.be/herman-van-rompuy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Van_Rompuy
The govenrment will consist of the same 5 parties as before, and all parties say that they want to continue the government until the next scheduled general elections in 2011 (so not until the regional elections in June next year).
Let's see how fast Herman Van Rompuy can form his government, and then it will be really interesting to see whether they can really make it until 2011...
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLS35202520081228
http://www.cdenv.be/herman-van-rompuy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Van_Rompuy
The govenrment will consist of the same 5 parties as before, and all parties say that they want to continue the government until the next scheduled general elections in 2011 (so not until the regional elections in June next year).
Let's see how fast Herman Van Rompuy can form his government, and then it will be really interesting to see whether they can really make it until 2011...
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLS35202520081228
