After five
months without a government, four Belgian political parties have reached an
agreement to form a governming coalition. Belgium frequently faces division
along linguistic and political lines.
Deutsche Welle, 7 Oct 2014
Belgium’s
primary center-right parties have reached an agreement to form a coalition
government, ending a five-month period since parliamentary elections without a
national government.
The
agreement makes French-speaking pro-business liberal Charles Michel (pictured,
right) prime minister. At 38 years old, he will become one of Europe's youngest
leaders, and Belgiums youngest prime minister in almost two centuries. Michel
heads Belgium's largest center-right pro-business party, the Reformist Movement
(MR).
"All
the partners suggested that I take over the responsibilities of prime
minister," Michel was quoted as saying. Unusually for a Francophone
politician in Belgium, Michel speaks excellent Flemish.
The
agreement to install Michel as prime minster came after a marathon negotiating
session ended on Tuesday with an agreement to lower taxes and raise the
retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2030. Michel said the deals brokered on Tuesday
"will balance Belgium's books by 2018."
Center-left
out in Flanders-focused coalition
Michel will
replace Elio Di Rupo, whose center-left Socialist Party have already complained
that the agreement is too business-friendly.
Belgium
held federal elections in May, but the nation had since been deadlocked on the
formation of a new government. The country frequently faces division stemming
from linguistic and political differences between the country's more
conservative Flemish-speaking north, and the French-speaking south.
The
governing coalition will be the first without Socialists in 26 years. It also
includes the Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which
advocates the secession of Belgium's Dutch-speaking north. Flanders' Christian
Democrats (CD-V), and the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) make up the
rest of the coalition. Prime Minister Michel's MR party, which won just under
10 percent of the votes in May, is the only coalition member from Wallonia,
Francophone southern Belgium.
The N-VA,
in Belgium's more populous and wealthier north, took more than 20 percent of
the popular vote, making it the strongest single power in the country. In the
past, its advocacy of secession had made other parties eschew the influential
N-VA as a political partner, helping to explain the country's difficulties
forging coalition governments.
Recent
history has seen Belgium wait even longer to form government. In 2010, it
required 18 months of negotiations in order to form a governing coalition.
bw/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)
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