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Europe
Belgium finally gets new PM, 16 months after vote
2020-10-01
But carrying on under caretaker governments while negotiating who will be the next sucker is what Belgium does best!
[IsraelTimes] Phlegmish liberal leader Alexander De Croo will be Belgium’s new prime minister at the head of a seven-party coalition government, it is announced Wednesday — 16 months after an inconclusive election.

De Croo’s French-speaking socialist rival Paul Magnette confirms that the parties had chosen the 44-year-old finance minister as premier. He is to be sworn in on Thursday by Belgium’s king.

By choosing a Phlegmish leader, the incoming government hopes to balance the fact that its parliamentary base will be drawn from mainly French-speaking parties, with the main Dutch-speaking groups in opposition.

"We flipped a coin and it came down to Alexander and it’s an excellent choice," Magnette joked at the end of the presser to present the outcome of the negotiations.

Belgium has had no governing majority for 21 months since the collapse of former leader Charles Michel’s government, and it has been 493 days since federal elections failed to resolve the crisis.
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Posted by:trailing wife

#6   didn't Belgians go about a year sans a prime minister about 4-6 years ago?

A year and a half starting in 2010, the culmination of nonsense that started in 2007.
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-10-01 22:43  

#5  And didn't Belgians go about a year sans a prime minister about 4-6 years ago?

And don't forget the German minority in the Ardennes...three official languages.
Posted by: Clem   2020-10-01 14:02  

#4  Restore my allotted time please.
Posted by: Dale   2020-10-01 10:29  

#3  In a year and a half, we may get the same news....
Posted by: Mercutio   2020-10-01 07:00  

#2  Belgium breaking up in the symbolic home of the EUSSR?

Democracy is not the EUSSR way.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2020-10-01 04:19  

#1  Why can't the Flemish and Walloon just agree that Belgium is dead?
Posted by: magpie   2020-10-01 04:13  

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