BELGIUM: Crisis deepens in Belgium after Flemish vote to split Brussels forces Francophones to call off coalition talks

Belgium plunged deeper into political crisis on Wednesday (November 7) when Flemish parties voted to split a key electoral district, a move Francophone counterparts said would wreck marathon talks to form a coalition government. A record 150 days since a general election, Dutch-speaking Flemish parties carried out their threat to start the break-up of the electoral district around Brussels, arguing coalition talks had not made progress on further decentralising power. Political analysts had said such a move, effectively depriving French-speaking Brussels suburbanites of the right to vote for Francophone parties, would be tantamount to a declaration of war against French-speakers. It could effectively kill any chance of the Flemish Christian Democrats and their Francophone parties forming a four-party, centre-right government. It could also revive media speculation that the 177-year-old country might be better off splitting, even though a majority of Belgians favour unity. Olivier Maingain, the leader of the Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) said before the vote the future of Belgium was at stake. Didier Reynders, finance minister and head of the French-speaking Liberals, said there would be no more talks on the Brussels electoral district, but declined to say whether his party would pull out completely from talks to form a government. "I cannot live in a country where one community votes against another," Reynders said The Flemish President of the New Flemish Alliance Nationalist party, Bart de Wever, blamed the Francophones for refusing to discuss the fate of the BHV, the three communities of the electoral district of Brussels and its suburban area of Hal and Vilvorde. Francophone delegates in a parliamentary committee walked out on Wednesday when Flemish Christian Democrat committee chairman Pieter De Crem announced the highly charged vote would go ahead. Some of the Flemish deputies sarcastically waved good-bye to them. After ploughing through 24 articles and a series of proposed amendments, Flemish delegates cheered when the bill was finally passed. Francophone parties plan to meet later on Wednesday to determine their next move. After the Francophone deputies left the room and during the vote Reynders said negotiations to form a government would have to stop. He added that it was up to the King to decide on who would lead the negotiations from now on. Flemish President of the Christian Democrats, Jo Vandeurzen said would-be prime minister Yves Leterme needed to stay. The Flemish and French-speaking Christian Democrats and Liberals had made some progress in long-running coalition talks led by Leterme, settling policy on justice, immigration, the environment and foreign relations. However, they only began talks on thorny issues such as the budget and the emotive issue of devolving more power to the regions, which Flemish parties demand and French-speakers vehemently oppose. In Flanders, only a minority, albeit a sizeable one of some 44 percent, favour independence for their region, although almost two-thirds of the population believe Belgium will eventually break up.

ITN Source | November 8, 2007

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