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Belgium risks "political chaos," would-be premier warns
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 30 - 08 - 2010

The stalemate in Belgium over the formation of a
new government risks plunging the country into "political chaos," the
man in charge of the negotiations warned Monday.
French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) leader Elio Di Rupo spoke
after talks broke down on Sunday, as two centre-right parties from
Dutch-speaking Flanders said proposals to give more autonomy to their
region did not go far enough, dpa reported.
"The political parties who refuse a balanced proposal will lead
our country towards adventurism and political chaos. I don't think
that is the mandate they received from their voters. I hope reason
will prevail," Di Rupo said.
He issued a direct plea to Flemish nationalists from the N-VA, the
largest group to emerge from the June 13 elections, whose leader Bart
De Wever has argued for a gradual dissolution of the Belgian state
through a creeping transfer of power to its regions.
"Neither N-VA with its 27 seats, nor the PS with 26 seats in the
Chamber (of Deputies) can impose its own point of view on the other
party," Di Rupo said.
Flemish hardliners want richer Flanders to retain a bigger share
of its wealth and stop subsidising economically-depressed,
French-speaking Wallonia, where the PS is the main political force.
N-VA, backed by the more moderate CD&V, blocked a 500-million-euro
(635-million-dollar) grant to the bilingual government in Brussels,
saying financing rules for regional administrations in Flanders and
Wallonia had to be rewritten first.
Di Rupo said the handout to PS-run Brussels was "indispensable to
ensure the sustainability of the region and the welfare of all its
inhabitants, be they Dutch- or French-speakers."
But De Wever held to his gun later on Monday, saying he needed
written guarantees on regional financing reform before agreeing to
the Brussels aid package.
"If they ask us to show some trust, it is not too much to ask," he
told Flemish broadcaster VRT.
Two other Flemish parties, the Socialist sp.a and the Greens,
accepted Di Rupo's compromise proposals, which, in a bid to assuage
Flemish demands, would also shift 14 billion euros' worth of state
spending from federal to regional government.
The clash takes place against the backdrop of an estimated
25-billion-euro cut over four years needed to restore government
finances.
While Belgium's deficit is estimated at a lowish 5 per cent of
gross domestic product (GDP), its public debt is projected to rise
over the 100-per-cent-of-GDP mark in 2010, urgently bringing home the
need for austerity measures.
The political machinations also leave the country presiding over
the European Union's rotating presidency with only a caretaker
government, chaired by outgoing premier Yves Leterme.
"At stake is the future of all Belgians, the Flemish, the
Walloons, people from Brussels and the German-speakers," Di Rupo
added.
Political commentators have long feared that the increased
acrimony between Flemish and Walloon politicians could lead to the
break-up of the Belgian state, founded in 1830.
On Sunday Di Rupo said rival sides positions' were "incompatible"
and announced he would give up his mediation efforts. But a day later
he said he bowed to demands by King Albert II to soldier on "out of a
sense of loyalty to the state."
Flemish newspaper De Standaard argued that the weekend's events
seriously compromised relations between the main political players,
dashing initial hopes that arch-rivals Di Rupo and De Wever could
strike a business-like partnership.
"We are not yet negotiating the final split-up of the Belgians.
Feelings and intentions are not there yet. But on Sunday night we
took a further step in that direction," the paper warned ominously.


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