In Belgium, the government formation of 2019–2020 started one day after the federal elections, regional elections and European elections which were all held simultaneously on 26 May 2019. These formations were only the second under King Philippe.

During the formation period, no less than six new governments needed to be formed: a new Federal Government and five new regional governments (Flemish, Walloon, French Community, German Community and Brussels). The elections had shown again the significant differences in voting preferences between Wallonia (left) and Flanders (right). While the Government of the German-speaking Community was formed only a few days after the elections and the Brussels Government was formed one month later, the other regional governments were only formed after the summer, in September and October 2019. At the federal level, the deadlock was never resolved, but nevertheless, a new government was formed in March 2020. Its mission was only to fight against the coronavirus, as several of the opposing parties agreed to support a new Wilmès II Government identical to the current caretaker Wilmès I Government to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, de facto ending the search for a new government. The new government was given special powers to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The powers expired on 27 June 2020. Efforts to form a coalition continued during this time. The Wilmès II government continues in office in the meantime, but would have to seek a new vote of confidence on 17 September 2020 in case a new coalition was not formed before then, although this period was further extended to 1 October 2020.

Overview Government Outgoing coalition Next coalition Sworn in (days after election) Federal GovernmentMichel IIWilmès I Flemish side CD&V Open VldFrancophone side MR Wilmès II Flemish side CD&V Open VldFrancophone side MR 17 March 2020 () De CrooFlemish side CD&V Open Vld sp.a GroenFrancophone side PS MR Ecolo 1 October 2020 (494 days) Flemish Government BourgeoisHomans N-VA CD&V Open Vld Jambon N-VA CD&V Open Vld 2 October 2019 () French Community Government Demotte III PS cdH Jeholet PS Ecolo MR 17 September 2019 () Walloon Government Borsus MR cdH Di Rupo III PS Ecolo MR 13 September 2019 () Brussels Government Vervoort II Francophone side PS Défi cdH Flemish side Open Vld sp.a CD&V Vervoort III Francophone side PS Ecolo Défi Flemish side Groen Open Vld one.brussels-sp.a 17 July 2019 () German-speaking Community Govt. Paasch I ProDG PFF PS Paasch II ProDG PFF PS 17 June 2019 ()

Federal government

Possible coalitions Sorted descending by number of total seats: +CoalitionCoalition partiesTotal number of seatsFlemish seatsFrancophone seatsPitfallsFlemishFrancophoneTripartite + N-VA / Arizona + PS N-VA + CD&V + Open Vld + sp.a PS + MR + cdHLarge political differences in opinion between largest Flemish party (N-VA) and largest Francophone party (PS). Some parties are not needed to get to a majority. PS announced that in would only want to be part of a government including N-VA if maximum one liberal party was present (Open Vld or MR).Vivaldi CD&V + Open Vld + sp.a + Groen PS + MR + EcoloBroad coalition which is a minority on Flemish side. One party is not necessary (sp.a or Groen).Swedish + PS N-VA + CD&V + Open Vld PS + MRPS announced it would not help out the outgoing Swedish coalition and that in would only want to be part of a government including N-VA if maximum one liberal party was present (Open Vld or MR).Roman-red-yellow + Open Vld N-VA + CD&V + Open Vld + sp.a PS + cdHLarge political differences in opinion between largest Flemish party (N-VA) and largest Francophone party (PS). Large Flemish majority but Francophone minority. Liberal family would be split.Purple-green + cdH Open Vld + sp.a + Groen PS + MR + Ecolo + cdHLarge Francophone majority but Flemish minority.Olive branch + MR CD&V + sp.a + Groen PS + MR + Ecolo + cdHLarge Francophone majority but Flemish minority. Liberal family would be split. CD&V indicated willingness only to form a government with majority in Flanders which would not be the case.Purple-yellow N-VA + Open Vld + sp.a PS + MRLarge political differences in opinion between largest Flemish party (N-VA) and largest Francophone party (PS). Some parties are not needed to get to a majority. PS announced that in would only want to be part of a government including N-VA if maximum one liberal party was present (Open Vld or MR).Red Devils N-VA + CD&V + sp.a PS + MRLiberal family would be split.Purple-green + DéFI Open Vld + sp.a + Groen PS + MR + Ecolo + DéfiPurple-green being helped out by DéFI. Large Francophone majority but Flemish minority.Arizona N-VA + CD&V + Open Vld + sp.a MR + cdHWould be the current minority government, extended with sp.a, cdH and N-VA. Francophone minority. Socialist family split. cdH would be part but had announced to be in the opposition. Only one seat to spare.Classical tripartite CD&V + Open Vld + sp.a PS + MR + cdHProposed by initiative takers Magnette and Rousseau during the Coronacrisis. Has neither a Federal nor a Flemish majority.

Other coalitions are also mathematically possible, but in practice unlikely. For instance: the cdH had announced in the beginning of the formation it preferred to remain in the opposition, while extremist parties on both sides (left: Workers' Party of Belgium, right: Vlaams Belang) are unlikely to be part of the government due to vetoes by other parties.

Prior to the formation period The outgoing federal government was the Michel II Government. King Philippe accepted the resignation of the federal government Michel II on 21 December 2018, already a few months prior to the election date.Koning aanvaardt het ontslag van Michel II, regering gaat in lopende zaken, VRT NWS, 21 December 2018. The reason was the early fall of the Michel I Government over to the Global Compact for Migration.

The new federal government should be supported by a majority of at least 76 of the 150 lawmakers in the Chamber of Representatives.

The governing parties during the previous legislature were punished by the voters, losing a total of 22 seats. The Flemish-nationalist N-VA lost 8 seats, CD&V and MR 6 each and Open Vld lost 2. As a result, a renewed "Swedish coalition" (as in the Michel I government, whose component parties' colours/symbols were yellow (N-VA), blue (liberal, i.e. MR and Open Vld), and a cross (Christianity, i.e. CD&V), which are combined on the Swedish flag, hence the name) was impossible even if it was expanded with cdH, the Francophone counterpart of the CD&V, which had not joined the government in 2014. cdH and the socialist opposition parties PS and sp.a were also on the losing side: cdH and sp.a lost 4 seats each whereas PS lost 3. The big winners of the elections were the extremist left PVDA-PTB, gaining 10 seats, and the extremist right Vlaams Belang, gaining 15 seats. The green parties also gained, Ecolo went up 5, while Groen saw a modest gain of 2 seats.

Analysts saw two possible coalitions: a "purple-yellow" government with N-VA, socialists and liberals; and a "purple-green" government with socialists, liberals and greens, possibly also with CD&V. Both options were however very difficult to realize: purple-yellow had a majority in both language groups, but combined parties with widely diverging political views, most notably between the PS and N-VA.Paars-groen of paars-geel: welke bonte kleurencombinaties kan de federale regering krijgen?, VRT Nieuws, 6 November 2019. The PS had stated on numerous occasions its preference for a "purple-green" government, while the N-VA only accepted governing with the PS if far-reaching institutional reforms (further decentralisation) would be on the programme, which the PS (and all other Francophone parties) opposed. A "purple-green" coalition posed other problems: with only 76 of 150 seats, its majority would be very slim, and it would only represent a minority of the votes expressed in Flanders, with the N-VA and Vlaams Belang in the opposition. The exclusion of Vlaams Belang was consensual for all other parties, however, not only the NV-A itself but also Open Vld and CD&V opposed this solution, and pleaded for the inclusive, "purple-yellow" solution.

The day after the election, King Philippe invited for an audience in turn Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel (MR), Senate president Jacques Brotchi (MR), Chamber of Representatives president Siegfried Bracke (N-VA), and party presidents Bart De Wever (N-VA) and Elio Di Rupo (PS). One day later, on 28 May 2019, the King met with Zakia Khattabi and Jean-Marc Nollet (Ecolo), Meyrem Almaci (Groen), Wouter Beke (CD&V), Olivier Maingain (DéFI), Gwendolyn Rutten (Open Vld) and John Crombez (sp.a). On 29 May 2019, Maxime Prévot (cdH), Charles Michel (now as MR president), Tom Van Grieken (Vlaams Belang) and Peter Mertens (PVDA/PTB) were also invited.

This was the first time since the foundation of the far-right Vlaams Blok in 1978, the predecessor of Vlaams Belang, that a Belgian King invited a representative of this party to participate in the government formation negotiations. In 1978 Karel Dillen was invited by Baudouin, but he declined. The party had not been invited to the royal palace since.Vlaams Belang voor eerste keer uitgenodigd op het paleis: Tom Van Grieken straks op gesprek, Gazet van Antwerpen, 29 May 2019.Vlaams Belang-voorzitter Tom Van Grieken gaat voor het eerst op gesprek bij koning Filip, VRT NWS, 29 May 2019.Tom Van Grieken wordt uitgenodigd op het paleis voor een eerste verkennend gesprek , VTM NIEUWS, 29 May 2019. It was however not the very first time the King invited a representative of an extremist right party: in 1936 Leopold III invited Léon Degrelle after the election victory of his party Rex.Vlaams Belang mag op consultatie bij de koning, De Standaard, 29 May 2019.

Timeline

Informers Didier Reynders and Johan Vande Lanotte (30 May 2019 – 7 October 2019)