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2024 Legislative Elections: The Coalition, the Art of a Belgian Compromise
France may have to go through a coalition to be able to govern. Our Belgian neighbours are already used to the exercise, which has sometimes led to an impasse.
(franceinfo)
France may have to go through a coalition to be able to govern. Our Belgian neighbours are already used to the exercise, which has sometimes led to an impasse.
In Belgium, it took more than a year to form the government that is currently in place. Because in our neighbouring countries, parliament is elected by proportional representation and no one has an absolute majority. Alliances in Belgium are therefore unavoidable, and have improbable names. The Vivaldi coalition, the Butterfly, the Armenian, or even the Rainbow… So many examples of the art of Belgian compromise.
“The day after the elections, in Belgium, we are starting to negotiate together”assures Bernard Demonty, head of the political service of the newspaper Le Soir. Even if it means “forgetting that the day before, the day before that, we practically insulted each other”adds the journalist. But sometimes, the camps are irreconcilable. In 2010, it took all of Belgian humour to push the parties to agree. From protesters who took their clothes off to a challenge launched by actor Benoît Poelvoorde, the Belgians never stopped calling out their political class, until elected officials found a solution after 541 days.
