Belgiumportal |
The Verhofstadt II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 2003 to 21 December 2007.
It was the second government headed by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD). It was formed after the 2003 general election. It consisted of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), the French-speaking Liberal Reformist Party (MR), the Flemish Socialist Party (SP.a) and the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS). Because it comprised liberals and socialists it was also known as a "purple" coalition. It was a continuation of the Verhofstadt I Government but without the Green parties.
Function | Holder | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
Prime Minister | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD | |
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Justice | Laurette Onkelinx | PS | |
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs | Louis Michel | MR | |
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of the Budget and Public Enterprises | Johan Vande Lanotte | SP.a | |
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of the Interior | Patrick Dewael | VLD | |
Minister of Employment and Pensions | Frank Vandenbroucke | SP.a | |
Minister of Defence | André Flahaut | PS | |
Minister of Development Cooperation | Marc Verwilghen | VLD | |
Minister of Finance | Didier Reynders | MR | |
Minister of the Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, and Science | Fientje Moerman | VLD | |
Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health | Rudy Demotte | PS | |
Minister of Mobility and Social Economy | Bert Anciaux | Spirit (SP.a) | |
Minister of the Civil Service, Integration, and Large Cities | Marie Arena | PS | |
Minister of the Middle Class and Agriculture | Sabine Laruelle | MR | |
Minister of the Environment, Consumer Protection, and Sustainable Development | Freya Van den Bossche | SP.a | |
Secretary of State for Informatization | Peter Vanvelthoven | SP.a | |
Secretary of State for European Affairs | Jacques Simonet | MR | |
Secretary of State for Financial Modernization and the Fight Against Fiscal Fraud | Hervé Jamar | MR | |
Secretary of State for Labour Organization and Welfare at Work | Anissa Temsamani | SP.a | |
Secretary of State for Family and the Handicapped | Isabelle Simonis | PS | |
Secretary of State for Administrative Reform | Vincent Van Quickenborne | VLD | |
The 2004 Regional elections saw a fundamental reshuffle to the federal government as various federal ministers joined regional governments after these elections. The federal government after this date is often called Verhofstadt IIbis.
Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium since 2009. He was the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008 and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from 1985 to 1992. He was a Member of the Chamber of Representatives from 1985 to 2009.
The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats is a Flemish conservative-liberal political party in Belgium.
Vooruit is a Flemish social democratic political party in Belgium. The party was known as the Flemish Socialist Party until 21 March 2021, when its current name was adopted.
Groen, founded as Agalev, is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other.
Regional elections were held in Belgium, to choose representatives in the regional councils of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community on 13 June 1999. The regional elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the federal elections.
Flemish political parties operate in the whole Flemish Community, which covers the unilingual Flemish Region and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. In the latter, they compete with French-speaking parties that all also operate in Wallonia. There are very few parties that operate on a national level in Belgium. Flanders generally tends to vote for right-wing, conservative parties, whereas in French-speaking Belgium the socialist party is usually the most successful one.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2006 took place on Sunday 8 October 2006. The electors have elected the municipal councillors of 589 cities and towns as well as the ten provincial councils. The voters in the town of Antwerp have also been able to vote for the city's district councils. In seven Flemish municipalities with a special language statute and in the Walloon municipality of Comines-Warneton the aldermen and the members of the OCMW/CPAS council have also been directly elected.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 10 June 2007. Voters went to the polls in order to elect new members for the Chamber of Representatives and Senate.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on June 13, 1999 to elect members of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. The elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the regional elections. The Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) became the largest party.
Freya Van den Bossche is a Belgian (Flemish) politician and daughter of prominent former Belgian politician Luc Van den Bossche. She is member of the SP.a political party, and she was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget and Consumer Protection in the Belgian federal government. She was the youngest ever minister appointed in Belgium.
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 I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 1999 to 12 July 2003.
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).
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 also 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.
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.
Following the simultaneous federal elections and regional elections of 25 May 2014, negotiations started to form a new Federal Government as well as new regional governments: a Flemish, Walloon, French Community and Brussels Government. A Government of the German-speaking Community was formed only a few days after the elections.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 26 May 2019, alongside the country's European and regional elections. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected from eleven multi-member constituencies.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2018 took place on Sunday 14 October 2018. They are organised by the respective regions:
The government formation of 2019–2020 started one day after the federal elections, regional elections and European elections which were all held simultaneously on 26 May 2019. These formations are only the second under King Philippe.