Belgian cabinet sworn in
Elio Di Rupo becomes first prime minister from Wallonia since 1974.
Elio Di Rupo was today sworn in as Belgium’s prime minister, ending nearly a year-and-a-half of political stalemate over forming a new government.
Di Rupo, the leader of the Walloon Socialist Party, will lead a six-party coalition government made up of Flemish and Walloon Socialists, Liberals and Christian Democrats.
The prime minister, 12 ministers and six state-secretaries were sworn in by King Albert II at the Royal Palace today, bringing to an end a record 541 days without a federal government.
Yves Leterme, whose Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V) were defeated in elections on 13 June 2010, has been leading a caretaker government. It took eight rounds of negotiations between political parties to reach an agreement on forming a new government.
Di Rupo will have the distinction of being the first prime minister from Wallonia since 1974.
The government faces two main tasks. One is to reduce its budget deficit and get its debt level under control amid worries the country could be the next victim of the eurozone debt crisis. The European Commission has already warned the country to reduce its deficit and debt levels and pass structural reforms such as phasing out early retirement as quickly as possible.
Belgium’s credit rating has already been downgraded because of fears about its ability to control its public finances. Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s rating to AA from AA+ on 25 November.
Di Rupo and his coalition partners agreed to a three-year budgetary plan on Monday (28 November) that will cut spending by €11.3 billion. The plan is to reduce the country’s deficit to below 3% by next year and balance the budget by 2015.
Fact File
The Belgian cabinet
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Prime minister: Elio Di Rupo, Walloon Socialist Party (PS)
Foreign minister, deputy prime minister: Didier Reynders, Walloon Liberal Democrats (MR)
Finance minister, deputy prime minister: Steven Vanackere, Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V)
Social affairs and health minister, deputy prime minister: Laurette Onkelinx, PS
Interior, mobility and energy minister, deputy prime minister: Joëlle Milquet, Walloon Centre Democratic and Humanist party (CdH)
Pensions minister, deputy prime minister: Vincent Van Quickenborne, Flemish Liberal Democrats (Open VLD)
Economy minister, deputy prime minister: Johan Vande Lanotte, Flemish Socialist Party (SP.A)
Justice minister: Annemie Turtelboom, Open VLD
Budgets minister: Olivier Chastel, MR
Defence minister: Pieter De Crem, CD&V
Employment minister: Monica De Coninck, SP.A.
Business and enterprise minister: Sabine Laruelle, MR.
Development and state-owned businesses minister: Paul Magnette, PS.
Di Rupo’s government will also have to implement constitutional reforms to resolve a long-standing linguistic dispute over the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV) electoral district and to devolve more powers to Belgium’s two linguistic regions, Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia.
His cabinet contains many familiar faces from the previous government. Didier Reynders, Belgium’s long-time finance minister, has been named as foreign minister, while Steven Vanackere, the outgoing foreign minister, will take over at the finance ministry.