Who do you think will be Belgium's next prime minister ?

Flandrien · May 7, 2003, 13:58

Elections are on sunday 18 may

alva · May 7, 2003, 14:06

The last option is probably the correct one, but we still are a monachy

DanS · May 7, 2003, 14:10

So who are these jokers, anyway?

Spiffor · May 7, 2003, 14:14

I second DanS. I have no idea of who these people are

alva · May 7, 2003, 14:20

Michel - foreign minister (the one opposing the war the loudest.
Verhofstdt - current prime minister
Di rupo - prime minister of the south (not sure on that one)
De clerck - opposition leader (CD&V (catholic centrum party)

Spiffor · May 7, 2003, 14:24

Did the opposition to war give Michel a big boost of popularity ?

alva · May 7, 2003, 14:28

Don't think so, he not well liked in the flemish region.
Politics in Belgium are weird though

Spiffor · May 7, 2003, 14:29

After all, who cares of the PM ? Doesn't all the power belong to the regions now ?

My Wife Hates CIV · May 7, 2003, 14:35

I dont have a freakin clue who the current one is. Does anyone?

Stefu · May 7, 2003, 14:35

It's going to be Pierre Fnunffy. You can't prove I just made that name up.

Arrian · May 7, 2003, 14:36

Englebert Slaptidak.

-Arrian

Locutus · May 7, 2003, 14:42

I think you Belgians should all vote for that mayor guy from Samson en Gert, he seems like a good guy for the job

Flandrien · May 7, 2003, 15:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Locutus
I think you Belgians should all vote for that mayor guy from Samson en Gert, he seems like a good guy for the job

You mean like the Dutch voted for Harry Potter ?

Flandrien · May 7, 2003, 15:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Stefu
You can't prove I just made that name up.

Yes I can.
With the Belgian registry-office.

alva · May 7, 2003, 19:58

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor
After all, who cares of the PM ? Doesn't all the power belong to the regions now ?

I think I can I speak for 10 million fellow countrymen if I tell you that we don't have a smegging clue

-

Arrian, wrong forum

Locutus · May 7, 2003, 21:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Flandrien
You mean like the Dutch voted for Harry Potter ?

Yeah, our country is in such deep sh*t now, we wouldn't survive without magic

Sava · May 7, 2003, 21:09

George Bush!

Traianvs · May 7, 2003, 22:02

Wow, hehe, you guys have a short-term memory...

-Louis Michel is a liberal that is currently minister of foreign affairs, he's a Walloon but he speaks both French and Dutch perfectly (which is quite the oddity among the Walloons so it is a big plus for him

). He belongs to the MR (Mouvement Réformateur), the Walloon liberal party.

-Verhofstadt, current prime minister, Flemish, also a liberal of the VLD, which is the biggest party in Flanders at this moment... Even though he does not look like it, he is very perseverant and can be pretty dominant and usually he keeps on battling until things are done his way

(a real machiavellist!)

The next two guys you won't know..

-Elio DiRupo, has been a minister in the past already, a socialist (of the PS) and a Walloon... He's basically the equivalent of Verhofstadt in Flanders as the PS is the largest party in Wallonia. Also he's gay if I recall correctly, and he dresses a bit like it imo

-Stefaan Declerck, leading the CD&V (catholic rightwing party that has ruled for decades and decades until last elections, when VLD took over) into utter and complete annihilation and oblivion, as he's a total sucker, just like his party on the whole

Spiffor, we have our **** split up between the 2 blocs, we have quite a number of governments (I don't even know how much.. I bet on about 6 different ones) but it doesn't mean we can't have a federal government that rules all

Oerdin · May 7, 2003, 22:08

I'll help campaign for which ever politician will remove the evil Belgian beer export tax. Those greedy Belgians are just trying to keep all that wonderful beer for themselves!

Traianvs · May 7, 2003, 22:09

Also, these elections are very important in terms of international relations and stances towards wars etc... so keep your ears open you Americans

, if Stefaan deblerghk ever makes it to high priest you will have another ally in your quest of world domination

Hmm I don't know anything about a beer tax, what's up with that?

alva · May 7, 2003, 22:21

Nope Oerdin, it's import tax your paying.

All the good beer (Duvel etc...) is still being made local and then shipped overseas.

Oerdin · May 7, 2003, 22:25

I remember reading a book on the world's best beers written by Englishman Michael Jackson (no relation to a certain child endangering, nose job geting, celeb) where he said Belgium was one of the few countries to have an export tax on beer and spirites. This struck me as daft since it would price belgian made goods off of the market but many people are willing to pay more to get the Cheme and other unique beers.

alva · May 7, 2003, 22:45

In that case I'm gonna have to give you the same answer Trajanus gave you earlier;

Quote:

Hmm I don't know anything about a beer tax, what's up with that?

lord of the mark · May 8, 2003, 15:44

anyone but Louis Michel - I'd like to like belgium again.

Traianvs · May 8, 2003, 16:39

Yeah, Louis Michel is against "the naive, subversive pacifists"

screw him, feckin fatass rich bastard

lord of the mark · May 8, 2003, 16:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Trajanus
Yeah, Louis Michel is against "the naive, subversive pacifists"

screw him, feckin fatass rich bastard

'Louis Michel, the Belgian foreign minister, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said: "We don't think that weakening the Palestinian Authority or Chairman Arafat can help advance the peace process in any way." '

Daily Telegraph, 15 dec. 2001.

lord of the mark · May 8, 2003, 17:04

"Louis Michel, the Belgian Foreign Minister, said the EU might rethink trade ties with Israel. "

shortly after the Passover bombing in April 2002.

lord of the mark · May 8, 2003, 17:13

and naturally Belgium threatened to veto NATO defense for Turkey. Didnt give in till your Dutch neighbors decided to help Turkey on their own, apart from NATO.