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The Di Rupo I Government is the future federal government of Belgium to be sworn in on 6 December 2011, after long record-breaking negotiations following the June 2010 elections. The government includes socialists (sp.a/PS), Christian democrats (CD&V/cdH) and liberals (Open Vld/MR), respectively of the Dutch and French language groups. The government notably excludes N-VA, the Flemish nationalist party which achieved a victory and became the largest party.[1] Its absence, together with the unwillingness of Open Vld to enter into an eight-party coalition including the Greens, causes the government coalition to not have a majority in the Dutch language group.
The negotiations aimed to put an end to the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis and include a sixth state reform, including the partition of the electoral and judicial arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and the transfer of new powers from the federal level to the regions. Because a state reform requires a two-third majority, the ecological parties (Groen!/Ecolo) participated in these negotiations but are not in the government coalition.
Composition
The composition of the Di Rupo I Government is not certain yet. Some names are already known.[2] On December 5, 2011, after more than 19 hours of negotiation, the parties involved came to an agreement regarding the size of the government: 13 ministers and 6 secretary of state. This is one of the smallest Belgian federal governments ever.[3]
| Minister | Name | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Elio Di Rupo | PS |
| Public Health and Social Affairs | PS | |
| Development Cooperation | PS | |
| Economy and Consumer Affairs | sp.a | |
| Employment | sp.a | |
| Foreign Affairs | Didier Reynders | MR |
| Self-employed and Agriculture Policy | Sabine Laruelle | MR |
| Budget | Olivier Chastel | MR |
| Justice | Open Vld | |
| Asylum and Migration | Open Vld | |
| Defence | Pieter De Crem | CD&V |
| Finance | Steven Vanackere | CD&V |
| Interior and Institutional Reforms | Joëlle Milquet | cdH |
| Secretary of State | Name | Party |
| Employment and Coordination of the Fight against Fraud | sp.a | |
| Public Companies | PS | |
| Civil Service | Hendrik Bogaert | CD&V |
| Institutional Reforms | Servais Verherstraeten | CD&V |
| Energy and Mobility | Melchior Wathelet, Jr. | cdH |
| Pensions | Open Vld |
References
- ^ "Belgium close to governing coalition after 18-month gap". BBC. 2011-12-01.
- ^ Template:Nl icon "Wie zou er kans maken op een portefeuille?". deredactie.be. 2011-12-05.
- ^ Template:Nl icon "13 ministers en 6 staatssecretarissen in Di Rupo I". deredactie.be. 2011-12-05.