- Title: BELGIUM: ELECTION PREVIEW
- Date: 15th May 2003
- Summary: (W2) GHENT, BELGIUM (MAY 15 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. CU POSTER SHOWING PRIME MINISTER GUY VERHOFSTAD SAYING "OUR COUNTRY IS STANDING TALL AGAIN" PAN TO SUPPORTERS 0.06 2. MCU VERHOFSTADT ENTERING CONGRESS HALL, AUDIENCE CLAPPING 0.11 3. CU AUDIENCE SHOWING POSTERS OF VERHOSTADT 0.13 4. SV AUDIENCE, VERHOFSTADT SPEAKING, SAYING "WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITIZENS. THEY WILL DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS AFTER MAY 18TH 0.20 5. SV AUDIENCE APPLAUDING, CHEERING, MUSIC 0.25 6. MCU (English) VERHOFSTADT SAYING: It is no longer the country of four years ago. It's no longer a country with huge deficits, with criminal cases like Dutroux and other problems. We think we did a good job, but nevertheless there's a lot to do in our country. I simply ask for a second period of four years to continue to work." 0.50 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 16, 2002)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. VARIOUS OF VOTE IN PARLIAMENT LEGALISING EUTHANASIA IN CASES OF TERMINAL ILLNESS (6 SHOTS) 1.20 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JANUARY 19 2001)(REUTER - ACCESS ALL) 8. VARIOUS CANNABIS JOINT BEING ROLLED AND SMOKED (4 SHOTS) 1.30 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 7 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. VARIOUS OF SENTENCING OF FOUR RWANDAN HUTU NUNS FOR THEIR PART IN THE 1994 MASSACRE OF TUTSIS. THIS WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY CASE TO COME TO A SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION UNDER BELGIUM'S 'UNIVERSAL COMPETENCE' LAW TO PROSECUTE WAR CRIMES (5 SHOTS) 1.44 (W2) ANTWERP, BELGIUM (NOVEMBER 27, 2002)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. TENSION BETWEEN POLICE AND NORTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY IN THE BORGERHOUT DISTRICT OF ANTWERP (5 SHOTS) 2.09 (W2) ANTWERP, BELGIUM (MAY 14, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 11. SV/CU OF HARD RIGHT VLAAMS BLOK (FLEMISH BLOCK) FOUNDER FILIP DEWINTER HANDING OUT ELECTION LITTERATURE AT A MARKET IN BORGERHOUT (4 SHOTS) 2.32 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 15, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 12. SLV/CU/SV OF MEMBERS OF FLEMISH GREEN PARTY PUTTING UP ELECTION POSTERS (5 SHOTS) 3.09 13. PAN/CU ELECTION POSTERS, FINAL SHOWS FOREIGN MINISTER LOUIS MICHEL, A FRENCH-SPEAKING LIBERAL (3 SHOTS) 3.32 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 15, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14. LAS/SLV BUSKER PLAYING ACCORDEON IN CENTRAL BRUSSELS SQUARE (3 SHOTS) 3.41 15. MCU (English) VOXPOP: ALBERT STAAL, A BRUSSELS RESIDENT, SAYING: "Because there is so much discontent (with established parties) we could see more people voting for Vlams Blok -- to show their opposition, but not necessarily out of solidarity with the Vlams Blok." 3.55 16. MCU (Dutch) RATA SCHEPKENS, WHO WORKS IN BRUSSELS, SAYING: "It's thanks to this government that Belgium put itself back in the picture. At least in Europe and also beyond -- we've even got to Bush!" 4.09 17. MCU (Francais) CHARLES BOS D'ENGHEIN, WHO WORKS IN BRUSSELS, SAYING: "I think in Flanders the Christian Democrats will recoup a bit of the vote that they lost through the tainted food scandals. That had boosted Ecolo and Agalev (two green parties), but they will lose a bit. I think we're going to see a stabilisation of the electorate." 4.28 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 8 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 18. PAN INSIDE THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS: THE MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY (2 SHOTS) 4.40 19. LV POSTER OF STEFAAN DE CLERCK, ITS LEADER AND THE MAIN OPPOSITION FIGURE IN BELGIUM INSIDE THE HEADQUARTERS 4.43 20. MCU (Dutch) DE CLERCK SAYING: "What I can see is that the Verhofstadt government made spectacular announcements, such as 'we will create a model state'. They said they would create an active welfare state. They said they would create a culture of open debate. I say that they have failed on all these issues. They have become an unreliable government. This has to be remedied. This renaissance has to be put in place at a socio-economic level. The situation is dramatic. Unemployement has never been higher. We have to fight that." 5.14 (W2) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 11, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 21. SV PEOPLE IN STREET DEMONSTRATING FOR REFORM MOVEMENT PARTY 5.20 22. MCU FLEMISH GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE ARGUING WITH WOMAN IN STREET 5.28 23. SLV FLEMISH GREEN PEDAL TAXI 5.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 30th May 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BRUSSELS, GHENT, ANTWERP, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Reuters ID: LVAEPY1Y3RAXRUJL39RR9WC0MJXR
- Story Text: It's a vastly different Belgium that goes to the polls
this Sunday, when 7.5 million people vote in general
elections. Once deeply conservative and racked by scandals,
Belgium is now among the most liberal in Europe, boosted by a
renewed sense of self confdience. Will that be enough to
guarantee victory to its youthful Prime Minister, Guy
Verhofstadt? Probably yes.
Politics conducted in a most un-Belgian manner: a
young prime minister, blaring music, cheering crowds.
Not the stuff normally associated by a nation that until recently was
wracked by the embarassment of corruption and child abuse
scandals.
This new found confidence is one that Verhofstadt claims
credit for -- and one he hopes will return him as prime
minister for another term alongside his Green and Socialist
allies.
In many respects, it's a vastly different country that goes
to the polls on Sunday -- a more liberal, permissive country
many foreign observers feel bears scant resemblance to the
Belgium of old.
The 'rainbow coalition' broke with Belgium's traditional
Catholic conservatism early on -- with a law liberalising
euthanasia for the terminally ill.
Verhofstadt's government has taken a more liberal approach
to drugs, de-criminalising the use of cannabis.
And on the international stage, it has sprung to celebrity
-- or infamy -- with a law allowing war crimes to be tried in
Belgium -- wherever they may have been committed.
This saw its first and only success in 2001, when four
Rwandan nuns were sentenced to jail for the part they played
in that country's massacre in the 1990s.
A mere gimmick? It's critics say yes. But one that bites:
several international figures -- including Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, have had to defend themselves
against bids to launch cases against them in Belgium.
But not everything has been the self-confident smooth ride
Verhofstadt has built his campaign image on.
Social tension is on the increase -- along with the hard
right Vlaams Blok, an anti-immigration party that could
capture nearly one vote in five in Belgium's largest city.
The Blok's founder, Filip Dewinter, got a warm reception
as he campaigned in an immigrant neighbourhood this week.
The message on the pamphlets he was handing out was direct to the
point of offensiveness to many immigrants: 'a safe Flanders'.
But as the posters go up on the billboards, it's not the
hard right that's the focus of the polls.
Or liberal social policy. It's far more mundane issues like tax cuts
and jobs.
Divided between the Dutch-speaking north and the poorer
French-speaking south, this nation of 10 million people will
have a plethora of Francophone or Flemish parties to pick.
Back in, Brussels, some ordinary Belgians are bracing
themselves for the rise of the far right.
One resident said the Vlaams Blok would benefit from the
protest vote -- people angry at the main political parties.
Verhofstadt's theme of a self-confident Belgium may be
spin or not -- many Belgians are buying in.
"We've even got to Bush," exclaimed Rita Schepkens, a
Brussels resident with barely-concealed pride.
Charles Bos d'Enghein, another resident, reckoned that the
opposition Christian Democrats would recoup some of the ground
they lost at the last elections, which were overshadowed by a
series of scanals over contaminated food.
In the offices of the main opposition party, the Flemish
Christian Democrats, you can feel the heat is on.
The once-mighty party was in government for four decades
until it was swept aside at the last polls -- hurt by a wave
of food, graft and child abuse scandals in the 1990s.
Its leader, Stefaan De Clerck, acknowleges Belgium has
become a more liberal place. But he says Verhofstadt's
government has failed to deliver on things tht matter like
unemployment, which at over 11 percent is way above the
European average.
But as cadidates make their final bids to get votes, many
voters are relying on political parties to get them to the
polls on Sunday. A word of warning, however: if you ask the
Ecologists, they'll most likely take you on a pushbike.
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