Following the Belgian general election held on 13 June 2010, a process of cabinet formation started in Belgium. The election produced a very fragmented political landscape, with 11 parties elected to the Chamber of Representatives, none of which won more than 20% of the seats. The Flemish-Nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the largest party in Flanders and the country as a whole, controlled 27 of 150 seats in the lower chamber. The Francophone Socialist Party (PS), the largest in Wallonia, controlled 26 seats. Cabinet negotiations continued for a long time. On 1 June 2011, Belgium matched the record for time taken to form a new democratic government after an election, at 353 days, held until then by Cambodia in 2003–2004. On 11 October 2011, the final agreement for institutional reform was presented to the media. A government coalition was named on 5 December 2011 and sworn in after a total of 541 days of negotiations and formation on 6 December 2011, and 589 days without an elected governmentBelgium ends record-breaking government-free run. CNN, 2011-12-06. with Elio Di Rupo named Prime Minister of the Di Rupo I Government.
Background
Tensions had risen between the Flemings and the Walloons: Flanders accused the Walloon region of being dependent on economic subsidies from the Flemish region. The Walloon population accused the Flemish of being segregationist with the language policy in the Flemish region.Harrell, Eben, and Leo Cendrowicz. Belgium: Divided Together. Time, 22 July 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
The most recent election had been fought mainly on the failure to resolve the conflict over the electoral arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. The conflict centred on political and linguistic differences in the arrondissement, with the Flemish desiring to split the arrondissement into two separate areas, while the Walloons wished to keep it together.
Informateur De Wever Bart De Wever (N-VA) announced he would seek negotiations with the PS.Keine Lösung des Sprachenstreits in Sicht. No solution for language dispute . orf.at. Retrieved 14 June 2010. PS leader Elio Di Rupo was tipped to become the next Prime Minister, because the "Socialist" parties emerged as the largest "party family" in the elections (39 seats in total), and because the N-VA lacks a Francophone counterpart.Fallon, Amy (14 June 2010). Belgian election win for party that wants to split nation. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2010.Erdrutschsieg für flämische Separatisten. Landslide victory for Flemish separatists. Der Standard. Retrieved 14 June 2010. Belgian elections: who could be next prime minister?. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
The King of the Belgians, Albert II, gave Bart De Wever the task of informateurInformateur: De Wever gaat opdracht in totale discretie afhandelen . Metro Time. Retrieved 17 June 2010. (someone who prepares for a formateur, the person who leads the formation of a coalition government) to smooth the path for the future government. One of the tipped "optimal" coalitions is what is called the "mirror government," a government using the same coalitions that exist in the Flemish (CD&V, N-VA and SP.A) and Walloon (PS, CDH and Ecolo) regions respectively, though in the federal government.Spiegelregering in de maak. De Tijd. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
Pre-formateur Di Rupo De Wever reported back to the king on 8 July 2010, suggesting that there was "not enough agreement on key issues" for a coalition to work and was therefore relieved of his duty as informateur. The king was expected to appoint PS leader Elio Di Rupo as formateur.Belgian political 'informer' hands over to king EarthTimes, 8 July 2010 However, on 9 July the king appointed Di Rupo "pre-formateur" instead, a new position stopping short of the traditional prime-minister-in-waiting role of formateur; it was likely intentionally established as a new position as appointing Di Rupo as "explorer" or "deminer" would have reminded voters of the government formation crisis of 2007–2008.Di Rupo takes lead in Belgium coalition talks EurActiv, 9 July 2010Elio Di Rupo entre en piste et devient pré-formateur RTL info, 8 July 2010
Originally, Di Rupo seemed to be, according to analysts, looking at the possibility of a coalition between the N-VA, CD&V and the SP.a on the Flemish side.Sirlereau, Marc. (13 July 2010) Elio Di Rupo poursuit ses consultations et rencontre le cdH . RTBF.be. Retrieved 5 October 2010 However, Di Rupo eventually expanded his consultations to include the heads of the major democratic political parties in order to forge a so-called "dual approach", attempting to create the two-thirds majority needed to enact institutional reforms, especially in the case of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.Elio Di Rupo wil regering die vier jaar aanblijft (20 July 2010). Nieuwsblad.be Retrieved 5 October 2010. Elio Di Rupo poursuit son travail selon une "double démarche" (20 July 2010). RTBF.be. Retrieved 5 October 2010
Unfortunately, Di Rupo was unable to reach a consensus between the parties. The N-VA and the CD&V accused the Walloon parties of moving too slowly in negotiations, as well as being too vague and too reserved in the details on the concessions they were willing to make. On 29 July 2010, Di Rupo met with the King to give the sovereign a progress report on negotiations.
Attempted resignation On 29 August 2010, Di Rupo met with King Albert and submitted his resignation as pre-formateur, releasing a statement to the press suggesting that the N-VA and the CD&V were unwilling to continue negotiations. This came on the heels of the N-VA and the CD&V's rejection of a potential compromise. The king, however, refused to accept the resignation, asking Di Rupo to continue as pre-formateur in an attempt to reach one final agreement.Blenkinsop, Philip (29 August 2010) Belgian coalition talks head resigns but king says no. Reuters. Retrieved 5 October 2010
In a press conference the next day, Di Rupo explained where the deadlock lay. The parties involved were able to reach an agreement on how much control each region would have on income and spending, but were stuck on the issues of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and funding for Brussels.Di Rupo waarschuwt tegen 'politieke chaos' in België (30 August 2010). NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
An agreement was not reached, and Di Rupo again asked the King to relieve him of his duties as pre-formateur on 3 September.
Mediators Flahaut and Pieters Upon Di Rupo's resignation, King Albert entrusted Danny Pieters, N-VA Senator and President of the Belgian Senate and André Flahaut, PS Representative and President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives to act as mediators in order to revive the negotiating process.Nouvelle crise politique en Belgique (5 September 2010). L'Express. Retrieved 5 October 2010 Stearns, Jonathan (4 September 2010). Belgian King Picks Mediators in Bid to Restart Government Talks. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 5 October 2010
The two mediators met with members of the seven parties and attempted to make some headway in the stalled negotiations by creating a framework to address concerns brought up in the pre-forming negotiations, something that the PS and the N-VA agreed to work within.Flahaut et Pieters ont fait rapport au Roi (17 September 2010). RTL Belgium. Retrieved 5 October 2010
Concurrently, however, tensions began to strain negotiations, with the PS displaying frustration at the state of negotiations and accusing the N-VA of trying to sabotage the process. The N-VA suggested that the PS and the other Walloon parties were merely unwilling to part with the "pocket money federalism", which refers to the distribution of financial means in Belgium where the regional governments are not accountable for their earnings or spendings.Le torchon brûle entre PS et N-VA (17 September 2010). RTL Belgium. Retrieved 5 October 2010
The N-VA exit negotiations On 4 October, Bart De Wever called a press conference at his party's headquarters, and announced in a bilingual statement, that the N-VA would be pulling out of the current negotiations, calling on all parties involved to start over.La N-VA veut reprendre à zéro (4 October 2010). RTL Belgium. Retrieved 5 October 2010 "For us, this story ends," he said in his statement, "I refuse to participate in this childish game". He placed blame for the failure of the talks on the Walloon parties, saying "We received no answers to the vital questions being asked by Flemings".Siuberski, Philippe (4 October 2010) . AFP. Retrieved 5 October 2010 The Walloon parties shot back, saying that they no longer trusted De Wever, and again accused him of trying to deliberately derail negotiations.Brand, Constant. (5 October 2010) Belgian coalition talks collapse European Voice. Retrieved 5 October 2010 "After long weeks of negotiations we almost had a deal", said Laurette Onkelinx from the Parti Socialiste (PS). "What is on the table is a fundamental reform of Belgium and at the last moment Bart De Wever, with tears in his eyes, says 'no, sorry, but this is not enough'”
The next day, the king dismissed Pieters and Flahaut as mediators.
Clarificator De Wever On 8 October, King Albert gave a "clarification task" to Bart De Wever. He had to try to converge the viewpoints of the negotiating parties in 10 days.
On 17 October, De Wever presented to the parties the first written proposal of the negotiations. Within 24 hours, it was rejected by the Francophone parties (PS, cdH & Ecolo).
Mediator Vande Lanotte
On 21 October 2010, the King asked Johan Vande Lanotte, a former president of Flemish social-democratic party SP.a, to be a mediator to resume government formation talks soon. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yves Leterme's outgoing government was asked by the King to stay on as a caretaker government with limited powers. As a result of this crisis, Belgium had no budget for 2011 and continued functioning with regular resolutions which prolonged the 2010 budget from month to month. Eventually on 10 January 2011, with no end to the political crisis in sight, and financial markets becoming alarmed about the lack of progress in addressing the budget deficit, Belgian King Albert II asked caretaker prime minister Leterme to craft a new budget for 2011.Belgian king asks premier to set up 2011 budget – Forbes/AP, 10 January 2011.
While Vande Lanotte was preparing his proposal, the government formation broke the 2007 record of 194 days on 25 December.Belgische record regeringsvormen is gebroken (25 December 2010). VRT Nieuws. Retrieved 4 January 2011
On the evening of 3 January 2011, the presidents of each of the seven parties received a copy of the proposal by Vande Lanotte, which had been three months in the making. Each copy had ever so minimal differences as to recognize the source of any potentially leaked document.Vande Lanotte heeft cruciale nota klaar (2 January 2011). VRT Nieuws. Retrieved 4 January 2011 The 60-page-long document contains five chapters:De nota van de bemiddelaar in grote lijnen (4 January 2011). VRT Nieuws. Retrieved 4 January 2011 Political renewal (Senate reform, concurrent elections each five years, ...) Transfer of several competences to regions Brussels (small internal reform, function of Governor abolished, ...) Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde will be split (exceptions for municipalities with language facilities, ...) Finance law (transfer of taxes to the regions, ...) The following day, all negotiating parties responded. The Flemish parties expressed strong reservations about Vande Lanotte's proposals, while the Francophone parties were lukewarm. Belgium in deadlock as talks mediator quits – Financial Times, 6 January 2011"Na ruim 200 dagen staan we nergens meer" (5 January 2011). VRT Nieuws. Retrieved 6 January 2011 Eventually five of the seven parties agreed to Vande Lanotte's proposal, but two Flemish parties rejected it outright.