amadeus
Serenity now
We never did for all the others, either. Can we posthumously impeach Woodrow Wilson?
Vive la Belgique!
- Thread starter Cato the Elder
- Start date
Ansar
Détente avec l'été
Well, people are allowed to hold their opinion on the politics of other countries. The partition opition comes from the fact that intercommunity drama takes up lot of time and energy that could be used elsewhere, that might be better to end the drama once and for all. But how knows. Maybe they should guess put it to a referendum and see how it goes.
Jan H
Prince
I'm sorry, but if you divide Belgium on two (or three or four) and re-unite Flanders with the Netherlands, you will get similar problems as there are now between Flanders and Wallonia. Sure we have the the same language (more or less), but in the past 178 we have also grown apart in a lot of areas. That's why reunification is not an option for me. The Flemish population and economy is big enough to stand on its own (with or without Brussels).
About the referendum option: there have been opinion polls about whether the country should be separated. But while the number of people that wants separation is increasing (even in Wallonia), they still are not getting a majority. On the other hand, in the last elections, the parties that are either separatist (Vlaams Belang, NVA) or in favour of a "confederal model" (CD&V, LDD) had about 55% of the Flemish vote.
All this makes that it is nearly impossible to form a cohesive government to rule the country (or rather: the two countries...)
But the biggest problem will always be: what to do with Brussels?...
Jan H
Prince
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7804882.stm
we have a new government
...which looks a remarkable lot like the old one, except for
- a new PM (Herman Van Rompuy, CD&V)
- a new justice minister (Stefaan De Clerck, CD&V)
- a new minister of interior affairs (Guido De Padt, VLD)
- the previous interior minister Patrick De Wael becomes the new speaker of the house
- a new minister for civil servant affairs (Steven Vanackere, CD&V)
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie.english/news/081230_VanrompuyI
The government was sworn in today by the King and will be approved by the parliament on Friday
we have a new government
...which looks a remarkable lot like the old one, except for - a new PM (Herman Van Rompuy, CD&V)
- a new justice minister (Stefaan De Clerck, CD&V)
- a new minister of interior affairs (Guido De Padt, VLD)
- the previous interior minister Patrick De Wael becomes the new speaker of the house
- a new minister for civil servant affairs (Steven Vanackere, CD&V)
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie.english/news/081230_VanrompuyI
The government was sworn in today by the King and will be approved by the parliament on Friday
Winner
Diverse in Unity
So, will it last for more than a few months? 
J-man
Deity
That was faster then I expected, which is good in these times of crisis. (When I say crisis I mean the financial one.)
Masquerouge
Deity
Can we give Wallonia to Switzerland instead?
Jan H
Prince
The first half of May we will know...
(circa 40 days before the regional elections)
philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
so Van Rompuy finally caved in, heh... Of course the dissapearing of vandeursen is too bad, stefaan de Clerck is not really my cup of tea, and i live in the city he is mayor in. Kortrijk is horrid.
Jan H
Prince
I hope Vandeurzen can get his name cleared soon in the parliamentary commission that will investigate the Fortis-affaire. I think he will be missed in the governement (unlike some of the others that went
)Maybe he can go study abroad to get a degree from some prestigious university and then return to politics, like that other former party-chairman
Cato the Elder
King
Tbh I'd prefer having CD&V out of the government altogether, though I guess that's not much of a possibility atm.
Jan H
Prince
They lasted 12 months longer than you expected, but today PM Yves Leterme once again went to King Albert to hand in his resignation...
This time the Flemish Liberal Democrats decided to leave the government, after the flemish and wallonian parties could not get an agreement about constitutional reform. These negotiations have been going on since the last elections in 2007. At the end of last year, King Albert asked former PM Jean-Luc Dehaene (Flemish Christian-Democrat) to negotiate. His task was supposed to end at Easter, but he couldn't get an agreement either.
Godwynn
March to the Sea
- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Messages
- 20,502
That was a good one.
As true today as it was a year and a half ago.
J-man
Deity
They lasted 12 months longer than you expected, but today PM Yves Leterme once again went to King Albert to hand in his resignation...
This time the Flemish Liberal Democrats decided to leave the government, after the flemish and wallonian parties could not get an agreement about constitutional reform. These negotiations have been going on since the last elections in 2007. At the end of last year, King Albert asked former PM Jean-Luc Dehaene (Flemish Christian-Democrat) to negotiate. His task was supposed to end at Easter, but he couldn't get an agreement either.
Yves Leterme and Jan-Peter Balkenende are good friends of each other. They actually make a good pair as neither of them can hold a government together.
Jan H
Prince
Some people over here actually eat horse meat
update: the king is currently consulting with the party leaders before deciding about the resignation. It's not sure yet if there will be new elections...
Yes, because Kosovo and Belgium are so similar it's uncanny.
