Verhofstadt to lead interim government in Belgium

King Albert has asked current Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to form an interim government until March next year to allow urgent matters such as the 2008 budget to be dealt with.

Without a new government since the elections of 10 June, King Albert of Belgium charged, on 17 December 2008, the country’s current Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt with the formation of an interim government until 23 March 2008. A definitive government, lead by the winner of the elections, Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, is expected to take over after that. So far, Leterme has failed twice to form a government coalition.

The aim of the interm government will be to take care of urgent matters such as the 2008 budget and start negotiations leading to institutional reform. Verhofstadt has, according to press sources, spoken with the main Flemish and Francophone parties and launched the idea of an asymmetrical government with liberals/socialists in Wallonia and liberals/Christian democrats in Flanders.

Verhofstadt and his Flemish Liberal party were among the main losers in the June elections, but have, according to an opinion poll in daily La Libre Belgique, regained in popularity in recent months thanks to the political crisis. According to some, he is now considered one of the main unifying political figures in the country.

As the crisis drags on, it is feared that the country could split into two nations. However, according to a poll published in La Libre Belgique  on 17 December, the vast majority of Belgians want the country to stay together.

Belgium is a federal state made up of three regions, with the economically strong Flanders to the north and the French-speaking south, Wallonia, embroiled in deep industrial restructuring. Between the two lies Brussels, the capital and third region, officially bilingual, but de facto mainly Francophone, despite being embedded in Flanders. 

The richer Flanders has been eyeing increased autonomy for years and Leterme’s party is now demanding more regional powers in areas such as justice and transport as well as in fields such as employment and social security, a move which Wallonia and the francophone parties say would substantially empty the federal state of its substance. 

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Attempts to form government in Belgium fail again

Almost six months after the general elections, Belgium is still waiting for a new government and is now placing its hopes on the king, who is today expected to call upon the outgoing Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to constitute a de facto emergency cabinet.