Belgium Forms Coalition Government, Ending Standoff

[Harold Schiffman]

March 21, 2008

Belgium Forms Coalition Government, Ending Standoff

By STEPHEN CASTLE

BRUSSELS — Belgium finally got a new government on Thursday, after a
nine-month political crisis that prompted speculation that the country
might split, but many voters say that the new five-party coalition may
be too weak to last. Yves Leterme, leader of the Flemish Christian
Democrats and the winner of elections last June, was sworn in as prime
minister by King Albert II. After the elections, warring Flemish and
French-speaking parties were not able to agree on a coalition
government. The dispute was so acrimonious that it prompted fears that
Belgium, formed in 1830, might divide along linguistic lines. Although
those concerns have subsided for the time being, polls indicated that
confidence in the new coalition was extremely low even before it took
office. One recent opinion poll of a representative sample of 1,027
people commissioned by the broadcasters RTL and VTM found that almost
two out of three of those surveyed thought the government would fall
within the next three years.

After the elections, Mr. Leterme, 47, tried to form a government but
failed after the collapse of complex negotiations. In desperation, the
king turned in December to the departing Flemish prime minister, Guy
Verhofstadt, to lead a caretaker administration. A division of powers
is at the center of the political crisis. Many functions of the state
are already carried out by regional authorities in Flanders in the
Dutch-speaking north, and Wallonia in the poorer, French-speaking
south. But the Flemish parties want more economic power for the
regions, and that has provoked fears in Wallonia that subsidies from
the richer part of the country will dry up. In most respects Belgium
has two parallel political systems with different parties fielding
candidates from the two biggest populations and appealing to voters
through separate newspapers and television channels.

The coalition agreement was reached Tuesday after 21 hours of talks.
The new government includes the Flemish and French-speaking Christian
Democrats, the Flemish and French-speaking liberals and the
French-speaking socialists. The more nationalist Flemish parties
remain outside the government, but one is expected to back it. Because
the new coalition represents a broad range of political opinion, and
more of the big parties are inside the coalition than outside, Mr.
Leterme almost leads a government of national unity. The top jobs in
the Foreign, Interior and Finance Ministries have not changed hands.

But the agreement does not cover proposed changes regarding the issue
of regional powers. The parties are committed to reaching a settlement
by July.

"It's not a new or fresh team, it represents continuity in managing
the current situation," said Caroline Sägesser, a political analyst at
Crisp, a sociopolitical research organization in Brussels. "The real
negotiation on the constitutional settlement will take place
elsewhere."

Much rests on the performance of Mr. Leterme who, as the son of a
Flemish mother and a Walloon father raised in an agricultural region
near Belgium's border with France, ought to be able to straddle the
linguistic divide.

He is bilingual and, like many of his countrymen, has a passion for
cycling. But having made his career in Flemish politics, where few
votes are won by reaching out to French-speakers, he is widely
distrusted in the southern part of the country. He has not served as a
minister in the federal government and has little experience
negotiating with leaders from other linguistic groups.

French-language newspapers have in recent days unearthed a number of
comments made by Mr. Leterme that have been taken as slights by
French-speakers.

In 2006 he told the French-language newspaper La Libre Belgique that
"French-speakers are not intellectually equipped to learn Dutch."

Last year, on the country's National Day, he was filmed singing "La
Marseillaise," France's national anthem, instead of Belgium's anthem,
"La Brabançonne," in what was interpreted as a dig at French-speakers.

He also has been criticized for mistakenly referring to National Day,
July 21, as observing the proclamation of the Constitution instead of
commemorating the inauguration of Leopold I, Belgium's first king, in
1831.

Political analysts point out that Mr. Leterme's predecessor, Mr.
Verhofstadt, was also once viewed with acute suspicion in Wallonia.
"Leterme has potential to become more popular in Wallonia as people
get to know him better and discover that their worst fears are not
realized," Ms. Sägesser said. "But he is starting from a very low
base."

The winner of last June's elections, Mr. Leterme can claim the backing
of 800,000 voters in a country with a population of about 10.5
million. Governments are elected under a proportional system in
multimember constituencies where political parties present lists of
candidates. Voting is compulsory in Belgium.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/world/europe/21belgium.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print
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