Belgium Celebrates 249 Days Without A Government
It has been eight months and eleven days since Belgium’s parliamentary elections and they still haven’t been able to form a government, but Belgians don’t seem to mind:
Belgians are marking 249 days without a government Thursday — a figure that they are treating as a world record.
Day to day the crisis pits the leaders of six million Dutch-speaking Flemings against those of 4.5 million French speakers, but people from across the country are putting aside their differences to celebrate the occasion.
In Dutch-speaking Ghent, organizers hope 249 people will strip naked to mark the days of the crisis as part of a party expected to draw thousands. There will be free fries, Belgium’s beloved national dish, in Leuven and lots of Belgian beer in the French-speaking student town of Louvain-la-Neuve.
“Finally world champion,” the usually serious De Standaard newspaper proclaimed in the headline of its Thursday edition, tongue firmly in cheek.
“Of course it is serious that we have no federal government,” Kris Peeters, the minister-president of Flanders, said in an interview. “But on the other hand, I appreciate very much the humour of certain actions.”
How did this happen? Basically, it boils down to a deadlock between the French and Flemish blocs:
After general elections on June 13 last year, Belgium’s major parties began talks to force through the biggest constitutional reform in decades to keep both linguistic groups happy. But since their interests are often diametrically opposed, they ran into one deadlock after another.
King Albert had to appoint and accept the resignation of one go-between after another as the major parties refused to move far from their pre-election position. It is a process which continues to this day. The chances of success for the current negotiator, caretaker Finance Minister Didier Reynders, are seen as slim and the spectre of new elections to break the deadlock are looming.
Or, maybe not. The Belgians don’t seem to miss the government very much.
Of course, they still have a government. What they don’t have is a government led by a parliamentary majority – stable until the next regularly scheduled elections. They still have their same old federal government, it is just run by a caretaker leadership.
I agree with Tano. You’ll know that they really lack a government when the tax witholdings cease.