[lg policy] Belgians mark 'no-government world record'

[Harold Schiffman]

Belgians mark 'no-government world record'



Belgians are staging a series of tongue-in-cheek events to mark what
many there see as a new record - the world's longest wait for a
government. Belgium has been without a government for 249 days -
longer than Iraq - as parties from the Dutch-speaking north and
French-speaking south remain split.

To mark the event, 249 people plan to strip naked in Ghent, and there
will be free beer and chips in other cities. Organisers hope the
events will boost efforts to break the political impasse.
"We've had enough of political games," Kliment Kostadinov, one of the
organisers, told the AFP.
"We must get a government fast and a reform of our institutions that
is good for all Belgians."

Johan Vande Lanotte, who resigned recently from the post of king's
mediator with the task of ending the crisis, urged Belgium's political
leaders not to give up on finding a solution.
You don't make major reform of the state without enormous pain in your
own ranks”

He told Belgian radio that he had achieved agreement on up to 70% of
his text but the final step had proved difficult. "If the gap is so
great, the parties should take great steps. That is not easy. Often
they don't realise how hard that is. You don't make major reform of
the state without enormous pain in your own ranks," Mr Lanotte said.

In a speech later in Ghent, he set out proposals for a Belgian union
made up of four separate parts - Dutch-speaking Flanders,
French-speaking Wallonia, the capital Brussels and German-speaking
areas. A caretaker government has been running Belgium since last
June's elections which failed to produce an outright winner.

Although it took 249 days before Iraq achieved an outline agreement on
a government, approval was not forthcoming for another 40 days, and
some have questioned whether Belgium has yet broken the dubious
record. But that did not stop dozens of student organisations marking
the event under an umbrella group entitled "Not in our name".

Although many of the events, such as stripping and eating chips,
appeared light-hearted, organisers insisted they had a serious
political message of conserving social security and strengthening
solidarity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12492872

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