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Belgium headed for new government after PM's defeat

by Leigh Thomas 44 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgian voters handed a stinging defeat Sunday to centre-right Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt in legislative elections, taking a big step towards a change of government.

The centre-right Flemish Christian Democrats were poised to determine a key role in the next government after they came out on top in the key Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.

Since no party fields candidates in both of Belgium's two main regions, winning in Flanders, where 60 percent of the population live, is key to national success.

Acknowledging the defeat of his Flemish Liberal Democrats, Verhofstadt said at his party headquarters: "The results are clear. Voters have opted for another majority than the one that has governed the country over the last eight years."

With partial results showing the Christian Democrats had won 28-32 percent of the vote in Flanders, party heavyweight Yves Leterme, looked more likely than ever to replace Verhofstadt as prime minister.

After two four-year terms, Verhofstadt's Liberal Democrats trailed in third place in Flanders with 18.5 percent of the vote behind the far-right Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Interests party, with 20 percent of the vote.

Although Vlaams Belang, which wants Flanders to secede, is now the region's second political party, they will probably not be included in any coalition government because other parties have agreed to shun them.

In the French-speaking region of Wallonia, partial results showed the Socialist Party losing ground although it was still in first place with 31-32 percent of the vote, while the Reform Movement (MR) was second, credited with 28 percent.

The two parties were partners in Verhofstadt's four-party coalition, which included his Liberal Democrats and Flemish Socialists, which won 15.5 percent of the vote in Flanders.

After stirring past tensions with French-speakers in Wallonia, Leterme was quick to raise the sensitive issue of devolving more powers to the regions, which Wallons fear could be a prelude to breaking up the country.

"Belgium is a country built on a historic compromise between two big (language) communities and that has to be respected, the country and its institutions need to function," he said shortly after his party's election victory.

Flanders parties are demanding wider political powers, and notably want to manage their own employment policy, which is currently in the hands of the federal government.

They are trying to capitalise on the widespread belief in Flanders, where unemployment is low, that Flemish taxpayers foot the bill for unemployment benefits in Wallonia, where joblessness is a huge problem.

Although he is perfectly bilingual thanks to a francophone father and Flemish mother, Leterme has also made little effort to bridge the linguistic divide that cuts through Belgian politics and life.

In addition to disparaging Wallons for their failure to learn Dutch, he has stoked controversy in the past in Wallonia by saying that Belgium was an "accident of history" and that the country has no "intrinsic value."

French-Dutch tensions are running particularly high after the French-language state television channel aired a spoof 'breaking news' story in December saying Flanders had voted to break away.

The programme, which even included images of trams in Brussels held up at the "new border" with Flanders, was so realistic that the station was flooded with calls from disturbed viewers and sparked a media and political storm.

As always in Belgian politics, language will play a key role as the parties sit down to form a new coalition government. A linguistic balance is essential.

Negotiations are due to start on Monday but a government deal is likely to take at least one month.

Belgium headed for new government after PM's defeat (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070610/wl_afp/belgiumvote;_ylt=An0SRq6GUQLvyT7pevy_BD1vaA8F)