Belgium finally has a government
Belgium and politics is a complex story. For more than a year now, Belgium did without a legitimed government. However, 493 days after the elections, finally an agreement was reached between 7 parties belonging to 4 political families.
On a federal level, the political situation in Belgium has been frozen for more than one year. But on Thursday 1 October at 10 a.m., the members of the new federal government were finally sworn in by King Philippe. What drove them to finally come to an arrangement? Mainly the will to avoid new elections.
Indeed, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the contested management of this crisis, it is likely that voters would have expressed their bad mood by raising their voices to the extremes. This so called Vivaldi coalition was the best alternative to avoid new elections.
A colour for each season
This Vivaldi coalition is a scenario that emerged during the political crisis of 2019/2020, after a year without a legitimed government for Belgium. The name refers to the Four Seasons of composer Antonio Vivaldi. Each season has a color that represents a political party. The Vivaldi government includes ministers from the socialist (PS and sp.a), liberal (Open Vld and MR), ecologist (Ecolo and Groen) and christian democrats (Flemish CD&V) families.
It is noteworthy that this is the first time a parity government has been formed, with women in the regalian ministries, including the first women in Foreign Affairs and Defense.
Among them, former members of the previous coalition, such as Alexander De Croo (Open Vld), the new Prime Minister, as well as former interim Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès (MR), as well as well-known faces who are making a comeback, such as Frank Vandenbroucke (sp.a).
Finally, some absolute newcomers are making their appearance, including the Minister of the Interior, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V).
Concerning the Covid-19 pandemic
The Vivaldi government agreement opens, unsurprisingly, on the management of the health crisis linked to COVID-19. “We must try to avoid further total containment as much as possible”, begins this chapter. This is the obsession of the future Vivaldi team, which wants to work with the federated entities to develop a realistic strategy that is both socially viable and economically feasible. We must therefore move from fighting an acute crisis to long-term risk management. To this end, the federal government appoint as special commissioner, the general director of the FPS Public Health: Pedro Facon.
Which Belgium in 2024?
The big question, both from an institutional and democratic point of view, is what the future of Belgium will hold. According to Vivaldi, “in the future, we must avoid the long-lasting formation of governments. In order to facilitate the formation of a government, we will evaluate the rules for the formation of a new federal government, for example by providing for an official deadline”.
There is also talk of modernising the Constitution by involving citizens, academia and civil society. The aim of this process will be to examine how the Constitution and legislation can be modernised with a view to strengthening democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights.
