A model for Europe? (Belgium's general election)

Belgium's peculiar system of national politics is failing to heal ethnic divisions or to stem the rise of the xenophobic far-right

AT THE European constitutional convention under way in Brussels there is much talk of the emergence of a European “demos”—a single European people who might one day form a genuine polity, complete with pan-European politicians and parties. Last week George Papandreou, Greece's foreign minister, became the latest European heavyweight to call for the direct election of a president of Europe.

The delegates arguing for the existence of a European demos might be a little less confident if they read the local newspapers in Belgium. Forget about Europe; there is still no Belgian demos. Linguistic divisions have proved too powerful to create a single political culture even in a small country of 10m people—a fact demonstrated once again by the Belgian elections of May 18th. Indeed, the very term “Belgian election” is misleading. Two elections were held on the same day in the country called Belgium, featuring different parties and leaders, depending on whether the vote was taking place in Dutch-speaking Flanders or French-speaking Wallonia.

In the Flemish election the Liberal party led by Guy Verhofstadt (pictured), the Belgian prime minister, won a narrow victory ahead of the Flemish socialists, Christian Democrats and the far-right Vlaams Blok. In the francophone elections the francophone Socialists emerged as the biggest party, just ahead of the francophone Liberals. The only genuinely common theme was the Greens' collapse—in both Flanders and Wallonia.

Belgian politics now requires the various political parties to form a governing coalition. An unstated requirement is that the prime minister almost certainly has to be Flemish, given that 60% of the population are Dutch-speaking. No Walloon has got the top job since the 1970s. So it is all but certain that Mr Verhofstadt will continue as prime minister, probably at the head of a four-party coalition of Liberals and Socialists.

Europe's new constitution May 22nd 2003 Guy Verhofstadt and Belgium's troubled EU presidency Oct 18th 2001 Belgium’s odd prototype for Europe Jul 5th 2001 The burgeoning far right in Flanders Oct 12th 2000

See Belgium's government and the prime minister's office. “Governments on the WWW” links to political-party websites (scroll down).

A second term in office will let the boyish 50-year-old prime minister start working on his image as a European elder statesman, perhaps with a view to landing a top job in the European Union. But further years of a Verhofstadt government will also underline the extent to which politicians are hamstrung by the consensual coalition-building ways of Belgian politics.

When Mr Verhofstadt first emerged on the national scene, he was a vigorous and unusual proponent of economic liberalism. He was even nicknamed “Baby Thatcher”. Yet, though his political origins place him on the centre-right, the need to form a coalition with the Socialists means that he has had to govern from the centre-left. The early Verhofstadt who spoke of privatisation and the need to encourage entrepreneurs has given way to a prime minister who flirts with the anti-globalisation movement and whose liberalism is largely expressed through social legislation, such as the legalisation of gay marriage and euthanasia.

Mr Verhofstadt does have some solid economic achievements to his name. The national budget has been balanced and a start has been made to reduce the Belgian state's awesome national debt. But the economic climate is now worsening. Belgian unemployment has reached 11.6%, up by more than 1% since last year, and there are big job losses in store in Wallonia's steel industry. That is particularly bad news, since unemployment in francophone cities like Liège and Charleroi already runs at around 35%.

Swollen Blokheads Bleaker economic times may help the far-right Vlaams Blok, which campaigns against immigration and for an independent Flanders. Its share of the vote in Flanders rose, as it has done in every national election since 1981. This time it got nearly 18%, up from 15% in 1999. The mainstream parties will continue their policy of a “cordon sanitaire”, in which all parties agree to refuse to form a coalition with the Blok.

But privately many mainstream politicians feel the policy is backfiring, since it promotes the Blok's image as anti-establishment—thus boosting its popularity. That is certainly happening in the party's power base in Antwerp, Belgium's second city, where the entire city council has had to resign after a scandal and where ethnic tensions are very high between Muslim immigrants and the white working-class. For the Vlaams Blok the national elections of 2003 are just an interlude. Its sights are set on the mayoral election in Antwerp in 2006—which it looks likely to win.

The national budget has been balanced and a start has been made to reduce the Belgian state's awesome national debt. But the economic climate is now worsening. Belgian unemployment has reached 11.6%, up by more than 1% since last year, and there are big job losses in store in Wallonia's steel industry. That is particularly bad news, since unemployment in francophone cities like Liège and Charleroi already runs at around 35%.

Ouch. That's completely unsustainable.

the rise of the xenophobic far-right

Swollen Blokheads

Oh, no, us liberals are never racist or intolerant! We'd never use demeaning language when talking about ethnic groups!

Permit me to say that I suspect that the growing numbers of Muslim fanatics in Belgium are at least as "extremist" as the Flemish, who have been relegated to second-class citizenship by the Socialist Belgians ever since the end of the Second World War. The descendants of the Nazi supporters are still being punished, whereas the descendants of the Communists--and Communists themselves--are given a free pass.

Sounds like the commies are running the place.

These are the people that insist the United States submit to their International Criminal Court. That WOULD be criminal!

This "mess" is all over Europe in many different forms. They need not worry, once they all convert to Islam they can take up the Arab lifestyle, economic activity will cease to be that important, survival will occupy their minds!

"Sounds like the commies are running the place."

You are uncommonly perceptive. They are running the place, and they permit no challenge to their power structure. This is as tight a political machine as the Daley family enterprise in Chicago. Nobody gets to do anywithing without the boss giving his OK. First. Forgiveness is not part of the scheme.

Except that, in the Muslims, they may have made a pact with the Devil. They lose control of the schools, which become centers for study of the Koran, then they lose control of the courts (as Sharia law is applied).

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