Belgium risks plunge into 'political chaos,' would-be premier warns

Aug 30, 2010, 13:39 GMT

Brussels - 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.

'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, said it could not accept a 500-million-euro (635-million-dollar) grant to Brussels' bilingual government while rules on financing for regional administrations in Flanders and Wallonia still had to be agreed.

'This financing is indispensable to ensure the sustainability of the (Brussels) region and the welfare of all its inhabitants,' Di Rupo shot back.

Two other Flemish parties, the Socialist sp.a and the Greens accepted Di Rupo's compromise proposals, which, in a bid to respond to Flemish demands, would 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.