2007–2008 Belgian government formation
2007–2011 Belgian political crisis |
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Timeline |
See also
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The 2007–2008 Belgian government formation followed the
On November 6, the formation talks became the longest in Belgian history. When the Parliament confirmed the formation of an interim Government, it had been 196 days since the Belgian people had voted out the previous coalition. It was the second longest formation period in European history, after the Dutch record of 208 days in 1977. Talks were interrupted twice by the resignation of the formateur, which left the political parties waiting for a new appointment by the King. Guy Verhofstadt was appointed as mediator on December 3, with the task not only of looking into the formation of a new government, but also of investigating how the government could handle certain urgent policy matters. Pressed by time, and some say by the King, on 19 December, Verhofstadt concluded a deal on a Government and presented it to Parliament on 21 December; on the same day the Ministers took the oath of office.
On Sunday 23 December, the interim Government officially came into office when it was acknowledged by the lower house of Parliament with 97 votes in favour. The transitional period came to an end on March 20, 2008, when Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister. The new government seemed short-lived as Leterme offered the King his resignation on 15 July 2008. The King refused.
Conventions
After a
The informateur has the task of exploring the various possibilities for a new federal government and for examining which parties can form a majority in the Federal Parliament. He also meets with prominent people in various fields to hear their views on what policies the new federal government should pursue. The informateur then reports to the King and advises him about the appointment of a formateur. However, the King can also decide to appoint a second informateur or appoint a royal mediator.
The formateur, who is usually the prospective prime minister is appointed by the King on the basis of the informateur's report. The task of the formateur is to form a new government coalition and lead the negotiations about the government agreement and the composition of the government. If these negotiations succeed, the formateur presents a new federal government to the King.
Parties involved in the 2007 government formation
From | Until | Name | Party | Function |
June 13, 2007 | July 4, 2007 | Didier Reynders | MR | informateur |
July 5, 2007 | July 15, 2007 | Jean-Luc Dehaene | CD&V | mediator |
July 15, 2007 | August 23, 2007 | Yves Leterme | CD&V | formateur |
August 29, 2007 | September 29, 2007 | Herman Van Rompuy | CD&V | explorator |
September 29, 2007 | December 1, 2007 | Yves Leterme | CD&V | formateur |
December 4, 2007 | December 17, 2007 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD
|
informateur |
December 17, 2007 | December 23, 2007 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD
|
formateur |
From | Until | Name | Party | Function |
July 12, 1999 | June 11, 2007 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD
|
Prime Minister (PM)
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June 11, 2007 | December 23, 2007 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD
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resigning PM
|
December 23, 2007 | March 20, 2008 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD
|
Prime Minister (PM)
|
March 20, 2008 | December 30, 2008 | Yves Leterme | CD&V
|
Prime Minister (PM)
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- Senate, was asked by the King to start an inter-community dialogue together with Herman Van Rompuy.
- Bart De Wever, leader of the New Flemish Alliance (Flemish nationalist).
- CD&V, has been appointed formateur twice by the King.
- FDF(Walloon nationalist).
- CDH). (nicknamed Madame Non by the Flemish press)
- Didier Reynders, leader of the Walloon Liberal party (MR), has been appointed informateur.
- Open VLD).
- CD&V).
- Chamber of Representatives, was appointed explorator after the first failure of the formateur and was later asked by the King to start a communitarian dialogue together with Armand De Decker.
- Open VLD), Prime Minister of Belgium, was appointed informateur on December 3, 2007, and formateur of an interim government on December 17, 2007.
Election and immediate aftermath, 10 – 13 June
On June 10, federal elections were held in Belgium.
In the French-speaking part of Belgium, the liberal party MR lost some seats but nevertheless became the largest party and replaced the
First information round, 13 June – 4 July
On 13 June 2007, King
The CD&V/N-VA caused a minor controversy when they immediately agreed with Reynders to stall constitutional reform until after the coinciding regional and European elections of 2009.Reynders presented his 170-page final report, titled Develop, unite and protect, to the king on 4 July 2007. It included a list of a record-breaking 450 people he talked to as informateur and contained an inventory of their views.
Mediation round, 5 – 15 July
Following the informateur's report, King
Initially Dehaene stated there should be a formateur by July 21,[9] the Belgian national holiday, but he ended his assignment prematurely on Sunday July 15, one week before the July 21 deadline. The former mediator said the four orange-blue parties would accept an invitation to coalition talks, but that this did not "mean all obstacles have been removed, far from it!"[10]
First formation round, 15 July – 23 August
Leterme begins his mission
The King then appointed
On Monday July 23, Formateur Leterme presented his formation memorandum called The Power of People – Turning Challenges Into Opportunities Together. This formation memorandum formed the basis for the real negotiations. It contained 80 pages and nine chapters about various issues; however, it did not contain a separate chapter on constitutional reform and devolution.
Suspension of negotiations and consultations by the King
Coalition talks at
That evening, the King received Jo Vandeurzen, the CD&V chairman, and Didier Reynders, the chairman of the MR. The next day the King received the chairpersons of the two other orange-blue parties, Bart Somers (Open Vld) and Joëlle Milquet (CDH), in order to attempt to defuse the tensions.
Leterme resumes his mission and resigns
On Sunday August 19, the formateur Leterme was summoned by the King to discuss his consultations. Afterwards, the King asked him to resume his work as formateur, but asked him to make new political contacts before resuming the negotiations.[17] After further negotiations produced no results, Leterme resigned as formateur on August 23.[18]
Consultations by the King, 23 – 29 August
Following
On August 24, a survey conducted by VTM showed that 45.8% of the 1300 Flemings polled wanted Flanders to be declared independent and that 54.2% opposed such an action.[22] The same survey showed that 58% of the respondents thought that the state reform is worth a crisis. Also, 72% could not understand the French-speaking opposition, and 53% thought that Milquet was to blame for the crisis and 15% thought that Leterme was to blame.
On August 25, the King received
Exploratory round, 29 August – 29 September
Van Rompuy begins his mission
Following consultations with a number of ministers of State, King Albert received
Also on August 30, the Walloon government held its first meeting since the summer holidays. Rudy Demotte (PS), the minister-president of the Walloon government criticized the long duration of the government formation and was skeptical about whether Van Rompuy would be able to solve the crisis.[36] He also said that he was waiting for formation proposals. On August 31, Milquet said institutional reform was less important than other topics and all French-speaking parties should formulate a common strategy. She also expressed her wish to replace the current "confrontational federalism" with a modern "cooperative federalism".[37] Gérard Deprez (MCC, a part of the MR just like the FDF) criticized Maingain's (FDF) demand for the territorial expansion of the region of Brussels to several Flemish towns in return for the split of the BHV electoral district. Deprez said in La Libre Belgique that "Maingain acts like the Inquisition and excommunicates everyone that does not share his dogmas".[35]
In an international press meeting, the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang said that the formation crisis was an example of Belgium's failure to function as a state and that the time had come to declare Flemish independence.[38] On September 1, the Flemish newspaper De Standaard devoted an issue to the question of whether a Flemish secession was realistic and viable.[39] On September 2, during De Gordel, an annual Flemish cycling event in the periphery of Brussels with a strong political undertone, Eric Van Rompuy (member of the CD&V and the brother of explorateur Herman) and Bart De Wever (N-VA) emphasized that this should be the last De Gordel in which the problems surrounding the BHV were not solved.[40] Flemish minister Geert Bourgeois (N-VA) also stated that the Flemish majority in the newly elected parliament should urgently solve the problem unilaterally – i.e. without the consent of the French speaking parties and thus without any offers. Other politicians, such as Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters (CD&V) and federal minister of Internal Affairs Patrick Dewael (Open VLD) participated in the event, but did not comment on BHV. Prominent absentees were Yves Leterme and Guy Verhofstadt.
Non-participation of Ecolo
During this period, speculation about the participation of the French-speaking ecologist party Ecolo in the orange-blue coalition increased. Van Rompuy tried to obtain the support of Ecolo for the coalition to address left-winged CDH's desire to have a left-wing partner in the centre-right coalition.[41]
On September 3, Ecolo said that three conditions must be met for it to participate in a coalition.
CD&V/N-VA said Ecolo's demands could not "be taken seriously" because the CD&V without the N-VA was unthinkable.[41] They also said the presence of N-VA was not a problem, but that the problem is the unreasonableness of the French-speaking parties to negotiate around the Flemish demands. Groen! said it was unwilling to participate in a coalition in which it is not necessary to obtain a majority in parliament. The need to undertake the negotiations again also meant the agreement between the partners about the prolonged existence of several nuclear power plants had to be reconsidered.
Herman Van Rompuy provided the King a first interim report on September 3.[42] Although his effort to include Ecolo in the coalition failed, Van Rompuy continued his mission despite a general decline in optimism about his likelihood of success of his mission steeply declined.[43] He formulated several proposals that he suggested to the orange-blue parties.[42] On 10 September, Van Rompuy provided the King with a second "interim" report – something that indicated his work would be prolonged.
Plenary session of the Flemish parliament
Filip Dewinter of the Vlaams Belang proposed to have an earlier plenary session in the Flemish parliament to discuss the communitarian crisis, a request that was granted. On September 10, under the eyes of the international media, he proposed in the plenary session to prepare a plan for an independent Flanders and to hold a referendum on independence.[44] He said that the Flemish resolutions agreed upon in the Flemish parliament in 1999 (that supported a far-reaching devolution of powers) were a breaking point. He also called Belgium "a country that is terminally ill" and that it was time to say "bye bye Belgium".
Other parties vehemently opposed the course of action, proposed by Dewinter.[44] For instance, Ludwig Caluwé (CD&V) said that the Flemish Interest did not vote for the resolutions in 1999. He added that more power to the regions does not imply the end of inter-regional solidarity. Patrcia Ceysens (Open VLD) said that "the country is not going to split, the parliament is not going to declare independence."
Leterme's controversial remark
In Karrewiet, a Flemish news program for children, Leterme was interviewed. He said "We could make sure that they [French-speaking Belgium] could build schools more cheaply. That would be beneficial for students from Wallonia and Brussels. Maybe if we could agree about that, French-speakers would be willing to negotiate about our demands."[45]
French-speaking politicians and the French-speaking media were enraged about Leterme's remark.
Criticism on the duration of negotiations
Guy Quaden, president of the National Bank of Belgium, warned on September 13 that the long duration of negotiations were not without a price as much-needed measures in the domains of budget, competition and employment are still not taken.[47] Didier Reynders said that Quaden should occupy himself with "interest rates, not politics".[48] CDH agreed with Quaden. CD&V and Open-VLD also agreed, but said that a good agreement was better than a quick but bad agreement.[49]
Elio Di Rupo, the president of the PS, sharply criticized the duration of the negotiations.[50] "Three months on from the election, they're not even sitting around the negotiation table. This has never happened before". He continued, "If we would have participated in the talks, negotiations would never have been derailed". Di Rupo also called the talks a "guerrilla war" rather than negotiations.
Belgian Minister of State Louis Tobback and Trends journalist Geert Noels blamed the Euro for allowing the formation talks to last this long. Since the Belgian government is no longer in charge of its own monetary policy, the value of the currency will not be affected by this political crisis, so there is no monetary incentive to force the formation partners to find a quick solution.[51]
No participation of the PS
On August 31, the magazine Knack reported that talks were taking place to include the francophone
On September 14, Jean-Jacques Viseur (CDH), mayor of Charleroi, said that it was wrong to keep the socialists out of the government.[54] On September 16, Open VLD senator Patrik Vankrunkelsven agreed and openly questioned his party's opposition to the participation of the socialists in government. He said that as long as the PS is an opposition party, the MR will not make any concessions on state reform.
On September 17, it was revealed that Van Rompuy had used
Larger role for Van Rompuy
Van Rompuy's discretion was appreciated in French-speaking Belgium.[55] MR and CDH proposed that Van Rompuy would include issues such as the federal budget, justice and social-economic matters in his exploratory mandate. Until then, Van Rompuy only tried to determine communitarian issues ranging from the BHV to the regionalisation of power. Van Rompuy's spokesman said that such a widening of his mandate was not being considered.
Open VLD and CD&V supported the French-speaking proposal.[56] CD&V added that a widening of his role can only happen if Van Rompuy remains an explorer, does not become a formateur and does not negotiate.[57] Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) also emphasized that Leterme remains the prime minister designate. VLD responded that they did not have any intention to undermine the position of Leterme.[58]
Second formation round, 29 September – 1 December
On September 29, Herman Van Rompuy presented his final report to the King. Afterwards, the Royal Palace announced that King Albert II relieved him of his exploratory mission. Later that day, King Albert II again appointed Yves Leterme as formateur.[59] On Friday, 5 October, Leterme provided the King his first interim report, after which negotiations with all orange-blue parties began.
Voting about Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde
Talks for a new government were interrupted on November 7, with agreements about everything not related to strengthening
The Francophone parties subsequently invoked a procedure known as the conflict of interest (
The King intervenes
On November 9, King Albert II intervened. He took state reform off the agenda for the negotiations, and instructed the chairmen of the
On November 12, the King met with the chairmen of the socialist parties SP.A and PS, and the green parties
The next day, the King met with the chairmen of CD&V, CDH, Open VLD and MR, and with
CD&V's partner party in the negotiations, N-VA, was not invited, nor was
One of the instructions the King had given to De Decker and Van Rompuy, was to find a way to start a dialogue on state reform. In an interview with RTBF on November 14, Armand De Decker said he and Karel Van Rompuy wanted to establish a National Committee of Dialogue (French: Collège national pour le dialogue, Dutch: Nationaal College van Dialoog). The committee would consist of prominent politicians of the Christian-democratic, liberal, socialist and green parties, who together have a two-thirds majority in both the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate.[74][75] Van Rompuy stated that nothing had been agreed upon, and that De Decker had spoken in his own name.[76]
Negotiations at a standstill
While the King was trying to find a new way to hold negotiations between the parties involved, the negotiations themselves came to a standstill. The parties have not spoken with each other since November 8, and the Francophone parties have stated that they would only rejoin the negotiating table if the Flemish parties apologize for the Chamber Committee on the Interior vote on Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.[73]
Several politicians had suggested a tripartite government of liberal, Christian-democratic and socialist parties.[77] The newspapers Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg reported on November 13 that the CD&V was leaning towards that option as well.[78][79] Party spokesman Peter Poulussen denounced the reports as "pure speculation,"[80] and Open VLD and MR rejected the idea of a tripartite government.[73][81][82]
Bruno De Wever, professor at the
Mayors of Kraainem, Linkebeek and Wezembeek-Oppem
The three mayors also violated language legislation by allowing French to be spoken during the meetings of the municipal councils of Kraainem, Linkebeek and Wezembeek-Oppem on Monday 22 October 2007, which Minister Marino Keulen described as a provocation.[84]
Myriam Delacroix-Rolin (CDH), the Mayor of Sint-Genesius-Rode, another municipality with linguistic facilities, will be appointed; her municipality had only sent letters of convocation in French for the 2006 municipal elections.[85]
The Francophone political parties put forth a united declaration in the Walloon parliament on November 16, calling the act by Flemish minister Keulen "a rejection of democracy." The appointment of the mayors should be seen in the broader perspective of the Brussels' periphery, the declaration stated.[86] Damien Thiery, the Mayor of Linkebeek, announced the following day that he will again be presented for appointment as Mayor.[87]
Resignation of Leterme
A confused week of negotiations started on 26 November 2007 with an agreement proposed by Yves Leterme and immediately accepted by CDH, MR, FDF and OpenVLD. Ironically, his own close partner N-VA did not accept the agreement, requesting more concessions for government reforms in the agreement instead; this led to a week of back and forth statements and interviews in the media.
On 30 November 2007, Leterme made a final proposal with three questions; he requested positive responses to all questions by all parties in order to continue negotiations.[88] The questions were:
- Are all topics admissible to be discussed in the special commission for state reform?
- Will the regions be given more leeway in regulating business tax rates?
- Can law proposals for state reform be adopted by any constitutional two-thirds majority, without extra conditions, as well?[89]
The French-speaking party CDH gave no response to all three questions, and FDF did not accept the transfer of business tax regulations to the regions.[90] Faced with this defeat, on 1 December 2007 Leterme gave his resignation as formateur to the King, which the King accepted.[91]
Consultations by the King, 1 – 3 December
Guy Verhofstadt, who remains the head of government, was received by the King on 1 December.[88][92] He was one of many politicians who could be asked by the King to try to seek a new consensus between Dutch and French-speaking parties. After visiting the royal palace twice on 3 December, prime minister Verhofstadt was nominated informateur by the King, although with a smaller role than an informateur usually plays. Verhofstadt stated he was hesitant at first to accept the job.[93]
Second information round, 4 – 17 December
Verhofstadt started his information round on December 4, talking to the chairmen of the
There were several difficulties associated with forming a temporary government. On the French-speaking side, the MR opposed a government that included all French-speaking parties. On the Flemish side, the VLD opposed the participation of the SP.a, the Flemish socialist party.
Forming interim government, 17 December – 23 December
On 17 December, Guy Verhofstadt was asked by the King to start the formation of an "interim government" that would last until 23 March 2008.[96] On the morning of 18 December, Verhofstadt met with
In the early hours of 19 December, Belga News Agency announced a deal had been struck by all parties and an interim Government was to be formed by 21 December and approved by Parliament by 23 December.[98][99] Later in the day, it was confirmed Guy Verhofstadt would address the Parliament on 21 December with a General Policy Declaration. It was also announced the legal 48-hour delay following the declaration would lead the Parliament to vote its confidence to the interim Government on 23 December.[100] The interim Government officially came into office when it was acknowledged by the lower house of Parliament with 97 votes in favour, 46 against on Sunday 23 December 2007.[101]
Memorandums and agreements
- The Power Of People - 1, the first version of Yves Leterme's formation memorandum in Dutch, as published on Vrtnieuws.net.
- The Power of People - 1, the first version of Yves Leterme's formation memorandum in French, as published on LaLibre.be.
- The Power Of People - 2, the second version of Yves Leterme's formation memorandum in Dutch, as published on DeMorgen.be.
- The Power of People - 2, the second version of Yves Leterme's formation memorandum in French, as published on LaLibre.be.
- "Bouwstenen van een globaal, coherent en rechtvaardig asiel- en migratiebeleid" (PDF). standaard.be (in Dutch). De Standaard Online. 2007-10-08. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17. Memorandum on asylum and migration policy agreed to by the orange-blue parties.
- "Kansen in Europe and in de Wereld" (PDF). standaard.be (in Dutch). De Standaard Online. 2007-10-10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-10-17. Memorandum on foreign affairs and defence agreed to by the orange-blue parties.
- "Veilige samenleving, doeltreffende, dicht bij de mensen staande en menselijke justitie" (PDF). standaard.be (in Dutch). De Standaard Online. 2007-10-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-10-17. Memorandum on justice agreed to by the orange-blue parties.
- "Une société sûre et une justice efficace, proche et humaine" (PDF). lesoir.be (in French). Le Soir en Ligne. 2007-10-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-10-17. Memorandum on justice agreed to by the orange-blue parties.
- "Samen gaan voor duurzame levenskwaliteit" (PDF). standaard.be (in Dutch). De Standaard Online. 2007-10-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-11-10. Memorandum on sustainable quality of life agreed to by the orange-blue parties.
See also
- 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis
- Partition of Belgium
- Belgian general election, 2007
- State reform in Belgium
- 2010–2011 Belgian government formation
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External links
- Coalitie07 – Dossier on the coalition talks on the website of De Standaard. (in Dutch)
- Formatie – Dossier on the coalition talks on the website of De Morgen. (in Dutch)
- Formatie – Dossier on the coalition talks on the website of Het Volk. (in Dutch)
- Formatie[permanent dead link] – Dossier on the coalition talks on the website of Het Laatste Nieuws. (in Dutch)
- Formatie - Leterme I – Dossier on the coalition talks on Vrtnieuws.net, the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep. (in Dutch)
- Elections 2007 – Dossier on the 2007 Belgian general election and the coalition talks on the website of Le Soir. (in French)
- Négociations à rallonge – Dossier on the coalition talks on the website of La Libre Belgique. (in French)
- Elections 2007 – Dossier on the news site of the RTL. (in French)