BELGIUM: Belgium political games continue with the country still waiting for a new government, five months after the general elections

Record ID: 598436

  • Title: BELGIUM: Belgium political games continue with the country still waiting for a new government, five months after the general elections
  • Date: 30th November 2007
  • Summary: (EU) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NOVEMBER 27, 2007) (REUTERS) INTERIOR RADIO STATION, PETER VAN DE VEIRE, RADIO ANIMATOR OF STUDIO BRUSSELS, A FLEMISH RADIO STATION, AND COLLEAGUE SOPHIE, ENTERING RECORDING STUDIO
  • Embargoed: 15th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Education
  • Reuters ID: LVA31OYEJT1I0JZVDTNWG7LH7SC1
  • Story Text: To better understand the political situation in their country, Belgian children are invited to learn and play with an interactive computer game entitled 'Help Leterme', from the name of the Flemish politician whose party won the June general elections but who has so far failed to form a new government.
    Belgium is still without a new government a record 171 days since the June 10 general election despite extensive talks between the Flemish Christian Democrats and Liberals and their francophone counterparts.
    The political situation is not only a nightmare for Yves Leterme, who has been charged to form a new government by King Albert, but also for Belgian teachers who want to discuss the country's political situation with their pupils.
    With the help of an IT company specialised in educative programs, Edu-vision, teachers conceived an interactive computer game entitled 'helpleterme'. The game is available on internet (www.helpleterme.be) and has been distributed to four thousand schools in Flanders.
    Throughout the game, pupils learn about key events and personalities of the Belgian political scene. With a dice, the players advance on a snakes and ladders- like board, that eventually leads to the King's palace.
    They earn points by recognizing politicians, assembling puzzles of Flemish or Walloon flags and completing sentences with a wheel of fortunes.
    One sentence to be discovered at the wheel of fortune is one Leterme pronounced before the election: 'It would take five minutes of political courage to solve the problem of Brussels-Hal-Vilvoorde', referring to a key electoral district around Brussels that Flemish want to break up.
    The move, effectively depriving more than 100,000 French-speaking Brussels suburbanites of the right to vote for francophone parties, would be a red rag to French-speakers. Since the election, the issue had further divided the country with Flemish parties voting for the break-up on November 7. The bill was later ''frozen'' thanks to an 'alarm bell' procedure.
    Another sentence refers to the march organised on November 18 in support for the unity of Belgium. The march attracted 30,000 people, mostly from Wallonia.
    Els Peeters, a Dutch and English teacher at the school, said the game helps to get children into politics.
    ''As a teacher, it's really difficult to motivate them to get to know what's going on in politics and news. So this game is really interesting because you can learn a bit more about politics by playing a game - puzzles, crosswords, puzzles, wheel of fortune etc... and therefore it's really amusing for them and also for a teacher to find out that all of a sudden politics can be amusing,'' Peeters said.
    At the end of the game, Leterme reaches the King palace and the mention 'Successful formation' appears on screen.
    The Flemish and French-speaking Christian Democrats and Liberals had made some progress in long-running coalition talks led by Leterme, settling policy on justice, immigration, the environment and foreign relations but remained split on the budget and, above all, the reform of the state.
    The Flemish parties, fuelled by decades of resentment at subsidising the poorer southern region of Wallonia, demand that their francophone partners start to meet demands for a further decentralisation of power.
    But Flemish demands for more autonomy, although stopping short of separation, have met with a firm "non" from French-speakers.
    One solution suggested by negotiators was to keep the reform of the state separate from the government programme and entrust it to a 'Wisemen Committee' headed by the president of the Senate. All parties negotiating to form a new government accepted this option, except the N-VA or New Alliance for Flanders, a partner in Leterme's political group.
    N-VA leader, Bart de Wever, insists that the institutional reform should be included in the government programme and is de facto blocking any further negotiation.
    The Belgian people deal with the situation with some humour; by changing just one letter of the nation's anthem, a phrase suddenly becomes 'Unity is a joke' instead of 'Unity is strength'.
    Peter van de Veire, a radio moderator, used the melody of a well-known song to send a message to Leterme.
    ''Hey Yves Leterme, look, you are someone strong, you had a good laugh in June, but now it's less funny. Leterme Yves. The Walloons think you are a thief. (CHORUS) Yves, you are so cute, Yves, you are a thief. (LYRICS) It's not very kind. Hey Yves Leterme. The whole country is moaning. Damn it, get lost, hurry up and give us a new government. Because it's time,'' Van de Veire sings.
    guy/jrc
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