The Left in Europe - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Belgium
Possibilities and Limitations of the
Anti-Capitalist Left in Belgium
Paul-Emile Dupret
Politics in Belgium has been brought to international attention recently due
to the difficulties between the two language groups, the Dutch-speaking
Flemish and the French-speaking Walloon communities. Foreign policy
observers – and often Belgians as well – have trouble understanding such a
big political labyrinth in such a small country. The financial and now the
economic crisis have, however, overshadowed this issue, at least in recent
months. People consider the economic and social tsunami a priority, and the
interference of the prime minister’s office with the justice system around
the sale of the Fortis Bank has led to the resignation of the government of
Yves Leterme, one of the worst prime ministers that Belgium has ever had.
A more experienced prime minister has been nominated by the Belgian
king, and has launched a government of very similar, and very strange,
composition: it includes the French speaking Socialists, and the Christian
Democrats and Liberals from both language communities. The Flemish
socialists have refused to take part in the government, not because of the
fact that it is a strange alliance between opponents, but because of their defeat
in the last elections, and because they wanted to regroup and position
themselves for the next regional and European elections. In this new centreright
government, the French speaking social-democrats are now trying to
restrict the implementation of neoliberal policies.
The opposition includes the extreme right, which accounts for thirty
percent of the vote in Flanders, but is nearly non-existent in the French
speaking areas; the Greens of both regions; the Flemish Socialists; and two
small Flemish nationalist parties. The anti-capitalist left has no presence at
all in any regional chamber, in the Belgian Parliament, or even in the European
Parliament. This is very surprising for many foreigners living in Brussels,
considering Belgian reality.
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