Flemish separatists are big winners in Belgian election

Reuters ^ | Sun May 25, 2014 | PHILIP BLENKINSOP AND ROBERT-JAN BARTUNEK

[dontreadthis]

(Reuters) - A party that wants to dissolve Belgium was the chief winner of a parliamentary election on Sunday, setting the scene for months of deadlock before a new government can be formed.

With about 80 percent of votes counted, the opposition N-VA (New Flemish Alliance), had secured a third of the votes from the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, the economic powerhouse in the north where some 60 percent of Belgians live.

The centre-right party, which captured 28.2 percent of the Dutch-speaking vote in 2010, has proposed transforming Belgium into a loose confederation of linguistically distinct regions, giving more power to regional governments.

It was a sobering night for the socialists of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who lost voters to a newly created hard left party although they should remain the largest force in the French-speaking south of Belgium.

[dfwgator]

Well now, the result of last week’s competition when we asked you to find a derogatory term for the Belgians.

Well, the response was enormous and we took quite a long time sorting out the winners.

There were some very clever entries. Mrs Hatred of Leicester Said ‘let’s not call them anything, let’s just ignore them’ ... and a Mr St John of Huntingdon said he couldn’t think of anything more derogatory than Belgians.

But in the end we settled on three choices:

number three ... the Sprouts , sent in by Mrs Vicious of Hastings... very nice ;
number two..... the Phlegms ... from Mrs Childmolester of Worthing;

but the winner was undoubtedly from Mrs No-Supper-For-You from Norwood in Lancashire... Miserable Fat Belgian Bastards.

[tumblindice]

I’m just going by what the Field Marshall says.
‘99 Luft-walloons, sitting in my living room
There’s old Franz and little Dinah
And Big Ned in my recliner’

[tumblindice]

I would like to take a moment from cat-confusing to thank the Walloons, Flemish, and the little French & German dwarves in the machine workshop who made my Browning Hi-power.
It is a fine piece.
Now. Get out of my comfy recliner, Ned, or I shall taunt you a second time as a wiper of animal food troughs and have the Walloons boil your bottom along with other unpleasant things you would rather avoid, hear me now and believe me later, a ha!

[Verginius Rufus]

Thanks for the clarification. I had been under the impression that Walloon was the equivalent of Belgian French but they are different. Walloon is Romance rather than Germanic (there is a small area of Belgium where the locals speak German). According to Wikipedia the Walloon language is in danger of dying out because it isn't much spoken by the younger people.

According to Wikipedia, Peter Minuit was a Walloon.

Bastogne is in the area that historically spoke Walloon, but I don't know what the Walloon word is for "nuts."

[House Atreides]

“...are Luft Walloons the name for German-speaking Belgians?”
********************************************************************

I believe earlier this evening I heard a report of some comments Barack Obama had on the Belgium election. I think the gist of his comments were that the Luft Walloons were Austrian-speaking Belgiums.

Perhaps the CIA’s Afghanistan station chief told him that.

[virgil]

Walloons and Flemmings ?

[Verginius Rufus]

Belgian endive was an issue in the 1988 election. Is it produced by Flemings or by Walloons?

Maybe the CIA guide to Belgium has the information.