Belgium set to appoint government after 493 days of painful coalition talks

Alexander De Croo, who will be named prime minister tomorrow, called for unity to get Belgium working again.

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Belgium will appoint a new government on Thursday, after a string of failed coalition negotiations lasting almost 500 days finally ended in success. 

The seven-party “Vivaldi” coalition of socialists, liberals, green parties and the Flemish Christian democrats will be formed on the deadline set by the King of Belgium for a new government or for fresh elections to be called. 

The coalition excludes the N-VA and far-Right Vlaams Belang, the two main Flemish nationalist parties which were the largest and third-largest parties after elections in May 2019.

Separatist protests have flared up in recent days. Vlaams Belang has vowed to lead “the resistance” to the new government while the N-VA complained Dutch-speaking Flanders pays for the rest of Belgium but has no voice in its politics.  

Alexander De Croo, the Flemish liberal, will be the new Prime Minister. The married father of two met the king on Wednesday with Paul Magnette, a socialist whose party dominates politics in French-speaking Wallonia. 

“I understand that many are sceptical. It is therefore up to us to prove that we can do it, that we can do politics in a different way,” Mr De Croo, the son of a former minister, said in Brussels. 

Quoting basketball star Michael Jordan, the former business consultant said: “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.”

“We are now exiting 16 months of an excessively long and profound political crisis which damaged public confidence in government,” Mr Magnette said, 

Mr De Croo, 44, is the current deputy prime minister in Sophie Wilmès’ caretaker administration, which has been in place for the 493 days since elections in May last year.

That election highlighted deep lingusitic and cultural divides in Belgium with Flanders voting for Right-wing parties, Wallonia voting for socialist parties and Brussels voting for Green parties.

Belgium’s record for the longest post-election period without an elected government is 541 days after the June 2010 elections. 

There were a series of similarly torturous negotiations between different combinations of parties before a government was formed. 

During this time Belgium achieved the Guinness World Record for being the country that went the longest time without government, beating the previous record of 289 days held by Iraq. 

Northern Ireland beat Belgium in 2018 but was not eligible for the record as it was still able to have laws passed in Westminster. 

The coalition has been nicknamed Vivaldi because of the colours of its member parties represents the four seasons.