Belgium has a new Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, a Flemish liberal, at the head of a coalition of seven parties.
It took more than 16 months to find a government agreement and put an end to a political crisis that had lasted since the parliamentary elections in May 2019.
Sixteen months after the elections, Belgium has a new Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, a Flemish liberal, at the head of a coalition of seven parties, relegating the majority nationalists in Flanders to the opposition.
The outcome of the negotiations, Wednesday at dawn, puts an end to a political crisis of 493 days since the legislative elections of May 26, 2019. Marked by a progression of extremes and environmentalists, this election had further fragmented the political landscape and significantly complicated the constitution of a majority around the traditional parties, left weakened.
Between the royal missions and the initiatives of political leaders, it took more than ten attempts since the vote to agree the positions.
Flemish nationalists excluded from the coalition
Taking into account the break-up at the end of 2018 of the center-right coalition in place since 2014, Belgium has been deprived of a majority government for more than 21 months.
Finally, seven parties managed to agree to take the reins in the midst of the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
These are the six parties of the socialist, liberal and environmental families (each time a French-speaking group and its Dutch-speaking counterpart), to which is added the CD&V, the party of the Flemish Christian Democrats.
The coalition of four families, called "Vivaldi" in reference to the composer of the "Four Seasons", marks the return of socialists and environmentalists, while the Flemish nationalists of the N-VA, the first party in Flanders, associated in power between 2014 and 2018, are excluded.