Belgian government up and running at last[fr][de] 

The new 22-member government was announced on 20 March. It includes 15 ministers and 7 secretaries of state, 11 of which are Flemish, the 11 others Francophone. 

Five political parties will be part of the coalition including the CD&V and its Francophone "equivalent", the CDh, led by Joëlle Milquet, who, after being nicknamed "Madame No" for her hard line in negotiations, has been appointed to the Ministry of Employment and Equal Opportunities. 

The Flemish and the Francophone Liberal Parties (Open VLD and MR) and the Francophone Socialists will also join the government. But the CD&V’s sister party, the Flemish N-VA ("New Flemish Alliance"), a nationalist movement led by Bart De Wever, decided, to the relief of francophone parties, not to participate in the new coalition, saying it offered too few guarantees for an in-depth institutional reform. 

Institutional reform still on the agenda

However, in his first governmental declaration to the Parliament on 20 March, Leterme said that a broad reform of the state, including handing over increased powers to the country’s three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) in areas such as employment, health and family policies, remains on the agenda. 

The aim is now to achieve a consensus on this second package of institutional reforms by July. But critics say the current governmental accord is a sham: It contains neither solutions to the institutional and linguistic problems that plunged the country into a political crisis during the past nine months, nor any agreement on budgetary measures for the priorities that have been agreed. 

Fear of collapse

A key concern is that negotiations on a second package will cause the government to collapse. "We are still in a temporary, transitional situation until July […] In the meantime, concrete problems, such as ageing and climate change are not being tackled," lamented Flemish socialist Bruno Tobback, former Environment and Pensions Minister. 

The Greens also regret the lack of "a solid agreement that would have guaranteed a good and healthy management of the State for the next three years". "We would have preferred not to fear that this agreement is a fable and this government a parody. But the energy deployed to dress up current disagreements and to make nice promises instead of listing the details and methods of financing plunges us into serious doubt," said a statement signed by Ecolo leaders. 

Parliament's formal vote of confidence to confirm the new government, on 22 March, is expected nevertheless to go smoothly. However, the government will also have to convince its citizens that it is up to the challenge. According to a survey for RTL-TVI/VTM television, 63% of Belgians do "not have confidence" in the new government and more than half of those questioned believe it will collapse by mid-2008.