Caretaking problems
You could call it a variation on a theme. The theme is the deadlock in negotiations for a state reform, the new variation is called royal mediator Johan Vande Lanotte. Appointed last week, the former president of the Flemish socialist party and former vice-prime-minister now has to find a way to bridge the gap between Flemish and French speaking politicians.
So far, there are not many bridges to see. We're still were we were some weeks ago, when N-VA-president Bart De Wever published a compromise text. It was the first official compromise proposal in four months, and the reactions were not good. Senior politicians of the PS called the text unacceptable. Mr De Wever called it a minimum.
Both sides made bold statements, and it will be difficult to erase these statements without losing electoral credibility. That's why Mr Vande Lanotte called his royal mandate to mediate the most difficult task in his political career.
In the meantime, the caretaker government of Yves Leterme is facing problems it can't solve because it hasn't got full political power. That's why King Albert is seeing prime minister Leterme and all the vice-prime-ministers of the caretaking government these days to check how flexible the boundaries of power of a caretaker government are. The most urgent problems are a crisis with asylum seekers (the most urgent measures are taken, but the problem is lingering on), some high level appointments in the federal administration (especially tax administration) and new supervision rules for the financial sector.
Some say it would be a good idea to turn the caretaker government into a real government that can give an answer to urgent matters. The negotiations for a state reform would then go on in the background.
I disagree with that view. It was exactly that solution that was given to the political crisis of 2007. The result was that some urgent matters were taken care for, but the government wasn't capable to start the social-economic and budget reforms that this country needs. The reason? No political party wanted to agree with big changes as long as it wasn't clear what would happen with the state reform. The result: three wasted years for state reform, budget reform and social-economic reform.
The crisis we experience now, happened because politicians finally are trying to start these reforms. It's the only way, however big the crisis may be.
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