The first talks on the formation of a Belgian coalition government have failed. Bart De Wever, leader of the Flemish conservative party (N-VA), has handed over his mandate as chief negotiator to King Philippe, who had entrusted it to him on 10 July, acknowledging the failure of his talks with four other Belgian parties then ready to form a government coalition, the Royal Palace announced on Thursday 22 August evening.
The King of the Belgians had appointed him “trainer”a role assigned to the man who is generally expected to become prime minister. Five Flemish and Walloon parties had agreed to try to form a coalition, following the June elections.
King Philippe will begin new consultations on Friday “with the presidents of the five parties involved in the negotiations for the formation of a new government”the Royal Palace said in a statement.
These first talks stumbled over fiscal issues, with the French-speaking liberals rejecting a proposal for a capital gains tax, supported by the Flemish socialists. Belgium, with a public deficit of 4.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP), is one of seven European countries facing proceedings for violating the eurozone's budget rules.
Around the N-VA, four partners had agreed in July to discuss a future government. These are the liberals of the Reform Movement (MR), the centrist party Les Engagés and, on the Dutch-speaking side, the Christian Democrats (CD & V) and Vooruit, the former Flemish Socialist Party, the only left-wing partner. These five parties together represent a majority of 81 of the 150 seats in the Belgian Chamber of Deputies.
A country known to be ungovernable
Following the consultations with King Philippe, another negotiator, who could be Mr De Wever himself, should in principle be appointed to resume the negotiations. These could last several more weeks, as is usually the case in this kingdom.
Reputedly ungovernable, Belgium had lived 541 days without a fully functioning government in 2010-2011. A record from which the country was not so far when the coalition of seven parties led by the current Prime Minister Alexander De Croo finally saw the light of day in the fall of 2020, 493 days after the 2019 elections.
The vote of 9 June – concurrent with the European elections – was marked by a victory for the right and the centre-right, with an unprecedented alignment of Wallonia (French-speaking south) with Flanders (Dutch-speaking north) where the right is traditionally in the majority. This resulted in the seven-party coalition led by Mr De Croo losing its majority. This coalition relied heavily on the French-speaking left. The outgoing Prime Minister was tasked with managing current affairs until his successor is appointed.
In Belgium, the N-VA was already associated with power between 2014 and 2018 but the post of prime minister never went to a representative of this party which claims to be “nationalist” and claims “a maximum degree of autonomy” for the Flanders and Wallonia regions so that they can lead “a policy tailored to their own community”.
Source: Lemonde
