Full Version: Whats your take on Belgian elections?
Is this country going to come out of economic stagnation? People here seem to have accepted disastrous economic policies of the government without any question. In France, the French at last voted for the change but here there doesn't seem to be any discussion about economic repercussions of the social policies. Given the presence of socialistes in wallonia ,penchant of Flemish for more independance, and factional politics of the federal state, I think the situation is pretty much doomed. What's your take?
Personally, I'm hoping for a CD&V/N-VA win, and I'd like to see Yves Leterme as Prime Minister, but I have no idea who they'd form a coalition with. Hopefully not the socialists!!! My own political viewpoints apparently mesh well with the VLD (according to the "doe de stemtest" quiz on www.vrtnieuws.be), but I'm fed up with Verhofstadt and all his pathetic compromises, and his party really lost me when they failed to deliver on their promise to split Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. Anyway, it will be interesting to see the results of this election. Too bad us foreigners can't vote!
(sonics)
Is this country going to come out of economic stagnation? People here seem to have accepted disastrous economic policies of the government without any question. In France, the French at last voted for the change but here there doesn't seem to be any discussion about economic repercussions of the social policies. Given the presence of socialistes in wallonia ,penchant of Flemish for more independance, and factional politics of the federal state, I think the situation is pretty much doomed. What's your take?
Unemployment figures have never plummeted this low, it's even "affecting" Brussels, where unemployment is dropping to 20% ;-)
The sucking noise you hear is our economy and the infidel practice of charging interest drawing in the huddled and uncouth from the southern hemisfere...
It's not the economy stupid... or on second thoughts, it is?
I don't know how long this unbridled petro-consumption will last, but I hope it will be over with for long... cutting back to half of you current living standards would be equal to what... back to the GDP-equivalent of the late 60ies?.... I could do with higher transportation costs, higher fabrication costs, bringing my own bag to the store.... just hand us back some sense of society, because this place is desintegrating at an alarming pace...
I'm only mildy ashamed to say I've no idea at all...
Is anyone promising tax cuts?
Is anyone promising tax cuts?
(Ventho)
I'm only mildy ashamed to say I've no idea at all...
Is anyone promising tax cuts?
Is anyone promising tax cuts?
VLD and MR... but their numbers are shaky.
Besides, their previous "grand income tax cut" only correlated with an 0,4% drop in taxes compared to GDP, that's well within any margin of error... one hand gave somehting back, the other hand took somehting off... socialists increased spending and instead of setting aside some money for the imminent retirement tsunami... they just partied on.
I hope PS gets a right beating... some places they've been the ruling party for over 50 years... only way you'll ever get some form of tax cut around here (though I wouldn't count on it)
just like this retarded country.
The guy/girl who drew the shortest straw at the EU-redaction of The Economist surely has had finer moments.
Belgium's election
Buggins's turn
Jun 7th 2007 | BRUSSELS
From The Economist print edition
In a divided country, voters have little influence—and care even less
WHY will so many Belgians bother to turn out in their general election on June 10th? The short answer is that they have no choice: they are legally obliged to vote on pain of fines (although spoiled ballots are allowed). Their democracy otherwise leaves precious little room for voters, thanks to a complex system of coalition government born of years of squabbling between the French- and Dutch-speaking halves of the kingdom. The rules for forming coalitions are so arcane, with complex monitoring of linguistic, ideological and regional balance, that one newspaper, Le Soir, has run a guide to explain it all in a mere 20 instalments.
Elections in Belgium are but a prelude to horse-trading (in 1988 it took almost 150 days to thrash out a coalition). On a few glorious occasions, voters seize the initiative by savagely kicking out a ruling party. But the results are usually less dramatic, so the real decisions are “not taken by the electorate”, admits Wilfried Martens, who served 12 years as prime minister. (One example: all parties are committed to exclude the far-right Vlaams Belang, even though it is the second-biggest party in Dutch-speaking Flanders.)
There is a chance that the election on June 10th will be of the savage variety. Polls show that voters in Flanders find the government of Guy Verhofstadt, a free-market type turned mushy centrist, incompetent. They are minded to eject him in favour of his rival, the Flemish premier, Yves Leterme, who comes from the mushy centre-right Christian Democrats. Mr Leterme is good at titillating Flemings who want less to do with French-speaking Wallonia. Last year he called the 176-year-old Belgian state an “accident of history”, so eroded as to amount to the king, the national football team and certain brands of beer.
This is divisive talk indeed. In a poll this week, almost 38% of Flemish voters said they wanted Mr Leterme as prime minister, more than backed any other candidate. Yet he won only 3.8% support in Wallonia, and just 5.1% in the (bilingual) capital, Brussels. Happily for him, national elections are nothing of the sort: the main political families split into Flemish and French-speaking parties years ago. Voting is by region, so Walloons can neither help nor hinder a Fleming's path to power.
The same is true in reverse for Wallonia. If it were a separate country, the local Socialist boss, Elio Di Rupo, would be frontrunner to be prime minister. But a mere 3.1% of Flemish voters say he is their ideal choice. A bow-tie-wearing dinosaur, Mr Di Rupo asserts that public spending—not capitalism—is the source of new jobs in Wallonia. He also once asked why work was so important, when it accounted for only a fifth of the lifetime of a person who reached 80.
Thanks to Belgian fudge and mudge, Mr Leterme's and Mr Di Rupo's parties could share power in the next government. In theory, both men have a shot at being the next prime minister. But Belgium has not had a French-speaking prime minister in three decades. So Mr Leterme looks by far the likeliest candidate—although one thing about horse-trading is that it can throw up a dark horse.
Mr Martens suggests that there should be national voting districts. Flemish voters could then punish Walloon politicians they dislike, and vice versa. Belgian democracy “works”, he insists, but with federal-level voting it would be “a lot healthier”. However, there is little enthusiasm for constitutional change, which requires a two-thirds majority in parliament.
The guy/girl who drew the shortest straw at the EU-redaction of The Economist surely has had finer moments.
Belgium's election
Buggins's turn
Jun 7th 2007 | BRUSSELS
From The Economist print edition
In a divided country, voters have little influence—and care even less
WHY will so many Belgians bother to turn out in their general election on June 10th? The short answer is that they have no choice: they are legally obliged to vote on pain of fines (although spoiled ballots are allowed). Their democracy otherwise leaves precious little room for voters, thanks to a complex system of coalition government born of years of squabbling between the French- and Dutch-speaking halves of the kingdom. The rules for forming coalitions are so arcane, with complex monitoring of linguistic, ideological and regional balance, that one newspaper, Le Soir, has run a guide to explain it all in a mere 20 instalments.
Elections in Belgium are but a prelude to horse-trading (in 1988 it took almost 150 days to thrash out a coalition). On a few glorious occasions, voters seize the initiative by savagely kicking out a ruling party. But the results are usually less dramatic, so the real decisions are “not taken by the electorate”, admits Wilfried Martens, who served 12 years as prime minister. (One example: all parties are committed to exclude the far-right Vlaams Belang, even though it is the second-biggest party in Dutch-speaking Flanders.)
There is a chance that the election on June 10th will be of the savage variety. Polls show that voters in Flanders find the government of Guy Verhofstadt, a free-market type turned mushy centrist, incompetent. They are minded to eject him in favour of his rival, the Flemish premier, Yves Leterme, who comes from the mushy centre-right Christian Democrats. Mr Leterme is good at titillating Flemings who want less to do with French-speaking Wallonia. Last year he called the 176-year-old Belgian state an “accident of history”, so eroded as to amount to the king, the national football team and certain brands of beer.
This is divisive talk indeed. In a poll this week, almost 38% of Flemish voters said they wanted Mr Leterme as prime minister, more than backed any other candidate. Yet he won only 3.8% support in Wallonia, and just 5.1% in the (bilingual) capital, Brussels. Happily for him, national elections are nothing of the sort: the main political families split into Flemish and French-speaking parties years ago. Voting is by region, so Walloons can neither help nor hinder a Fleming's path to power.
The same is true in reverse for Wallonia. If it were a separate country, the local Socialist boss, Elio Di Rupo, would be frontrunner to be prime minister. But a mere 3.1% of Flemish voters say he is their ideal choice. A bow-tie-wearing dinosaur, Mr Di Rupo asserts that public spending—not capitalism—is the source of new jobs in Wallonia. He also once asked why work was so important, when it accounted for only a fifth of the lifetime of a person who reached 80.
Thanks to Belgian fudge and mudge, Mr Leterme's and Mr Di Rupo's parties could share power in the next government. In theory, both men have a shot at being the next prime minister. But Belgium has not had a French-speaking prime minister in three decades. So Mr Leterme looks by far the likeliest candidate—although one thing about horse-trading is that it can throw up a dark horse.
Mr Martens suggests that there should be national voting districts. Flemish voters could then punish Walloon politicians they dislike, and vice versa. Belgian democracy “works”, he insists, but with federal-level voting it would be “a lot healthier”. However, there is little enthusiasm for constitutional change, which requires a two-thirds majority in parliament.
As intimated earlier my knowledge of Belgian politics is limited but it seems a fair summary of my understaninding of how things work over here.
Really though... I'm glad I'm an expat, voting does indeed seem a waste of time in Belgium.
Really though... I'm glad I'm an expat, voting does indeed seem a waste of time in Belgium.
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