Leterme II Government

Last updated April 17, 2019

2007–11 Belgian political crisis

Timeline 2007 elections 2007–08 government formation Verhofstadt III (interim) Leterme I Van Rompuy I Leterme II The Leterme I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 20 March 2008 to 22 December 2008. It took office when the Flemish Christian democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Belgian general election of 2007 and comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). The Van Rompuy Government was the federal government of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister after the Leterme I Government fell on 22 December 2008. The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Van Rompuy I Government which ended when Herman Van Rompuy became the first President of the European Council. It comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). 2010 elections 2010–11 government formation Di Rupo I Sixth state reform Following the Belgian general election held on 13 June 2010, a process of cabinet formation started in Belgium. The election produced a very fragmented political landscape, with 11 parties elected to the Chamber of Representatives, none of which won more than 20% of the seats. The Flemish-Nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the largest party in Flanders and the country as a whole, controlled 27 of 150 seats in the lower chamber. The Francophone Socialist Party (PS), the largest in Wallonia, controlled 26 seats. Cabinet negotiations continued for a long time. On 1 June 2011, Belgium matched the record for time taken to form a new democratic government after an election, at 353 days, held until then by Cambodia in 2003–2004. On 11 October 2011, the final agreement for institutional reform was presented to the media. A government coalition was named on 5 December 2011 and sworn in after a total of 541 days of negotiations and formation on 6 December 2011, and 589 days without an elected government with Elio Di Rupo named Prime Minister of the Di Rupo I Government. The Di Rupo Government was the federal cabinet of Belgium sworn in on 6 December 2011, after a record-breaking 541 days of negotiations following the June 2010 elections. The government included social democrats (sp.a/PS), Christian democrats (CD&V/cdH) and liberals, respectively of the Dutch and French language groups. The government notably excluded the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Flemish nationalist party which achieved a plurality and became the largest party. Its absence, together with the unwillingness of Open Vld to enter into an eight-party coalition that included the green parties, caused the government coalition to lack a majority in the Dutch language group. It was the first time that the Belgian prime minister had been openly gay, as Di Rupo became the world's first male openly gay head of government. Elio Di Rupo became the first native French-speaking prime minister since 1979 and the first prime minister from Wallonia since 1974 and first socialist prime minister since 1974. The sixth state reform in the federal kingdom of Belgium is the result after the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation, with 541 days of negotiations the longest ever in Belgium and possibly the world. The agreement was made among the Christian-democratic CD&V and cdH, social-democratic sp.a and PS, liberal Open Vld and MR and ecologist Groen! and Ecolo, each respectively a Flemish and French-speaking party. The first six parties, therefore not including the green parties, then formed the Di Rupo I Government. The Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance, which became the largest after the 2010 elections, is notably not part of the agreement nor of the government coalition. The 2007–2008 Belgian government formation followed the general election of 10 June 2007, and comprised a period of negotiation in which the Flemish parties Flemish Liberal Democratic, Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), and the French-speaking parties Reformist Movement (MR), Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) and Humanist Democratic Centre (CdH) negotiated to form a government coalition. The negotiations were characterized by the disagreement between the Dutch- and French-speaking parties about the need for and nature of a constitutional reform. According to some, this political conflict could have led to a partition of Belgium. The Verhofstadt III government was an interim Belgian government inaugurated on December 21, 2007 and lasting until 23 March 2008. It was led by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt government and contained representatives from the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), the Francophone Socialists (PS), the Francophone Liberals (MR) and Francophone Christian Democrats (CDH).
See also Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde Partition of Belgium State reform in Belgium Politics of Belgium Cabinet of Belgium The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have special language rights. The partition of Belgium is a hypothetical situation which has been discussed by both Belgian and international media envisioning a split of the country along linguistic divisions, with each of the Flemish Community (Flanders) and the French-speaking Community (Wallonia) either becoming independent states or joining, respectively, The Netherlands and France. Both communities currently have a large degree of autonomy within the Belgian federation. The term State reform in the Belgian context refers to the ongoing process of seeking and finding constitutional and legal solutions to the problems and tensions that exist among the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly between the Dutch-speakers of Flanders and the French-speakers of Wallonia. In general, Belgium has evolved from a unitary state to a federal state with communities, regions, and language areas.

The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister.^[1] It followed the Van Rompuy I Government which ended when Herman Van Rompuy became the first President of the European Council. It comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD), the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH).

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

A caretaker government is a government that rules on a temporary basis, due to the loss of election or a pending transition of power.

Yves Camille Désiré Leterme is a Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He was the 48th Prime Minister of Belgium, from November 2009 to December 2011.

Composition

The Leterme II Government originally comprised 15 ministers, seven secretaries of state, and a government commissary.^[2]

Minister	Name	Party
Prime Minister	Yves Leterme	CD&V
Deputy Prime Minister – Finance and Institutional Reforms	Didier Reynders	MR
Deputy Prime Minister – Social Affairs and Public Health	Laurette Onkelinx	PS
Deputy Prime Minister – Budget	Guy Vanhengel	Open VLD
Deputy Prime Minister – Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reforms	Steven Vanackere	CD&V
Deputy Prime Minister – Employment and Equal Opportunities	Joëlle Milquet	CDH
Interior	Annemie Turtelboom	Open VLD
Self-employed, Agriculture and Scientific Policy	Sabine Laruelle	MR
Justice	Stefaan De Clerck	CD&V
Defence	Pieter De Crem	CD&V
Pensions and Big cities	Michel Daerden	PS
Development Cooperation and European Affairs	Olivier Chastel	MR
Climate and Energy	Paul Magnette	PS
Enterprise and Simplification	Vincent Van Quickenborne	Open VLD
the Civil Service and Public Companies	Inge Vervotte	CD&V
Secretary of State	Name	Party
Mobility (Prime Minister)	Etienne Schouppe	CD&V
Coordination of the Fight against Fraud (Justice)	Carl Devlies	CD&V
Finance (Finance)	Bernard Clerfayt	MR
Fight against Poverty (Social Affairs and Public Health)	Jean-Marc Delizée	PS
Disabled Persons (Social Affairs and Public Health)	Philippe Courard	PS
Budget (Budget)	Melchior Wathelet Jr.	CDH

Changes in composition

On 14 February 2011, Charles Michel resigned as minister of Development Cooperation to become Chairman of the MR. He was replaced as minister in the Leterme II caretaker government by secretary of state for European Affairs Olivier Chastel, who became minister of Development Cooperation and European Affairs. Chastel was not replaced as secretary of state.

Crisis

From the start of the Leterme I Government, the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde caused problems between the coalition partners. The Constitutional Court of Belgium had judged in 2003 that the rules applying to the electoral district violated the non-discrimination principle. When no solution was found, the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats quit the coalition.^[3] Leterme offered his resignation to King Albert II of Belgium on 22 April 2010. On 26 April 2010, after a final round of consultations by Didier Reynders failed, the king accepted the resignation.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] New elections were held on 13 June 2010. As of 26 April 2010 the Leterme II government became a caretaker government until it was succeeded by the Di Rupo I Government.

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References

↑ "Leterme Returns as Belgian Leader After 2008 Failure". Bloomberg. 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
↑ "Samenstelling en bevoegdheidsverdeling van de federale regeringsleden" (in Dutch). Belgium.be. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ Traynor, Ian (26 April 2010). "Belgium's five-party coalition government collapses". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ Eeckhout, Bart (2010-04-26). "Hoop op ultiem akkoord over B-H-V sijpelt weg". De Morgen (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
↑ Samyn, Steven (2010-04-27). "België op weg naar verkiezingsavontuur". De Standaard (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
↑ "Belgium's king accepts Yves Leterme's resignation". BBC. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ Martens, John (26 April 2010). "Belgium Heads for Elections After Government Collapse". Businessweek. Retrieved 27 April 2010.

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[1] "Leterme Returns as Belgian Leader After 2008 Failure". Bloomberg. 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2010-04-27.

[2] "Samenstelling en bevoegdheidsverdeling van de federale regeringsleden" (in Dutch). Belgium.be. Retrieved 27 April 2010.

[3] Traynor, Ian (26 April 2010). "Belgium's five-party coalition government collapses". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2010.

[4] Eeckhout, Bart (2010-04-26). "Hoop op ultiem akkoord over B-H-V sijpelt weg". De Morgen (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

[5] Samyn, Steven (2010-04-27). "België op weg naar verkiezingsavontuur". De Standaard (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

[6] "Belgium's king accepts Yves Leterme's resignation". BBC. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.

[7] Martens, John (26 April 2010). "Belgium Heads for Elections After Government Collapse". Businessweek. Retrieved 27 April 2010.