Belgian political crisis

[🥥🌴]

Walloon government formed: PTB, PS and Ecolo reach an agreement

After long talks between those three parties, and the ultimate call-out from PS towards PTB to form a coalition, they've found an ambitious program for Wallonia in which a 30 hour work week will become a fact, as well as education and healthcare becoming free, becoming carbon free in 2025 and increasing the social safety net. A series of bold proposals have been found in the government agreement. Theirselves call it the most social and ecological government over the entire world. The opposition has called it a communist extremist government, which will make the region poorer & poorer, while major multinationals and companies might move away.

Walloon government composition (PTB-PS-Ecolo) (53/75)

Minister-president: Paul Magnette (PS)
Vice-President; Minister of Employment, Social Affairs, Health and Equality Germain Mugemangango (PTB)
Vice-President; Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade, Spatial Planning and Agriculture. Jean-Marc Nollet (Ecolo)
Minister of Local Government and Housing Marco Van Hees (PTB)
Minister of Budget, Sports Infrastructure and Airports. Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS)
Minister of Civil Service Matters, Administrative Simplification, Child Benefits, Tourism, Heritage and Traffic Safety. Christie Morreale (PS)
Minister of Environment, Nature, Rural Renovation and Animal Welfare Céline Tillier (Ecolo)
Minister of Climate, Mobility, Infrastructure and Energy. Philippe Henry (Ecolo)

[🥥🌴]

Flemish government formed: N-VA and VB reach an agreement: promise for an independence referendum

After long talks, N-VA has started talks with VB and come out with an agreement. N-VA said that they opted for VB after the communist governments were found in the south of the country, and that one of the proposals is an independence referendum on Flanders. They have a number of ambitious proposals including tight immigration, improving the economy, reforming the media, and said there is a need for austerity in the country. The left has criticized N-VA for forming a fascist government and breaking the cordon sanitaire. Meanwhile many protests in the country against this "fascist" government has broke out in the student cities of Leuven and Ghent, and also in Brussels. The Walloon main cities of Charleroi, Liege, Namur, Wavre, Ottignies and Arlon have stated that they'll held actions in the upcoming days as well. De Wever said a grand coalition would be too unstable for the region, and that they have to respect what the voter has chosen.

Minister-president; Flemish Minister for Culture, Foreign Policy and Development Cooperation: Theo Francken (N-VA)
Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Economy, Employment, Social Economy, Innovation and Agriculture: Sander Loones (N-VA)
Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for the Interior, Administrative Affairs, Integration, and Equal Opportunities: Tom Van Grieken (VB)
Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Education, Animal Welfare, Brussels Periphery and Sport: Ben Weyts (N-VA)
Flemish Minister for Justice, Planning, Environment, Energy, and Tourism: Zuhal Demir (N-VA)
Flemish Minister for Welfare, Health, Family and Poverty Reduction: Chris Janssens (VB)
Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget, Housing and Immovable Heritage: Matthias Diependaele (N-VA)
Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works: Wouter Vermeersch (VB)
Flemish Minister for Brussels, Media and Youth: Guy D'Haeseleer (VB)

[🥥🌴]

The King has called for new federal elections

A few weeks after the formation of the Flemish government, the formators have resigned and the king accepted their resignations. There's no possible way to form a government, and no side is willing to make major concessions. New elections are the only way to get out of this crisis, De Wever has said, and he argued that a vote for N-VA is a vote for a stable and right-wing Belgium, because a coalition with Vlaams Belang will never be formed. The PS argued for the same thing, saying that a N-VA - PS coalition is the only thing that will work for this country, if N-VA is willing to make major concessions. Ecolo and PVDA-PTB already countered that they will never go into a government with N-VA. The elections will be held in february. These will be the third election in a year and a half.

Biden elected president

Biden won the American election with a clear majority in the electoral vote. He won the popular vote by five, and carried the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin back from the Republicans. Donald Trump has made his confession speech, but warned Americans for a recession because of their choice. Democrats also hold on to the house, and won back the senate, causing a trifecta. Biden said that it's time for normalcy and stability to return to America, and to return all of Trump's dramatic decisions back. Vice-president-elect Abrams said that good times are on the rise for black Americans with a new Democratic government. Republicans meanwhile are in despair about their future and the fate of the country.

[🥥🌴]

PS continues to collapse in Brussels, losing votes to PTB. ISLAM party a growing concern in polls

PTB continues to rise in the Brussels polls, and have repeatedly have polls above 30%. Their participation in the government with Ecolo is greatly appreciated. Ecolo does well in the polls as well, keeping above the 25% threshold. MR - apart from one poll - seems to rebound a bit, but has hoped to grow a bit more, especially since the regionalist Défi collapsed, losing votes to MR and La Droite. PS continues to collapse and lose votes to mainly PTB. The Christian Democratic weren't able to reset their foothold in Brussels and are marginalized into basically non-existence. ISLAM and La Droite's growth are currently a concern for the typical Brussels person, as they continue to rise.

[🥥🌴]

History of the political parties: PTB-PVDA (part 1):



The Workers' Party of Belgium (Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid van België, PVDA; French: Parti du Travail de Belgique, PTB; stylized as PVDA+/PTB-GO!) is a socialist political party in Belgium that operates as a single Belgian party, in contrast to all other major Belgian political parties, which are either Flemish, Francophone or local. The PTB-PVDA used to host the International Communist Seminar until 2014 which had become one of the main worldwide gatherings of communist parties. PTB-PVDA has traditionally been a small party, but since the mid-2010s has gained momentum and increasing popularity at the polls and elections, becoming a major party in especially Wallonia.

History

The Workers' Party of Belgium originated in the student movement at the end of the 1960s. Radicalized students (organized in the student union SVB - Studenten VakBeweging), mainly from the Catholic University of Leuven, turned towards the working-class movement. They considered the politics of the existing Communist Party of Belgium revisionist, i.e. too much turned toward social-democratic politics (represented in Belgium by the Belgian Socialist Party). They were influenced by the ideas of the Communist Party of China, guerrilla movements in Latin America, the movement against the Vietnam War, and the Leuven-Vlaams movement, all perceived as aspects of a worldwide struggle against colonial or neo-colonial oppression and for civil or workers' rights.

Their support and participation in an important strike in the coalmines turned the movement into a political party. They founded a periodical, AMADA (Alle Macht Aan De Arbeiders - All Power To The Workers), which became the first name of their party. In 1979 the first congress was held, which adopted a Maoist programme and changed the name into PVDA-PTB. Ludo Martens became the first president, and remained an important ideologist of the party until his death in 2011.

Recent developments:

Following its electoral defeat in 2003, the PVDA-PTB fundamentally changed its working methods and communication. On one hand, the PVDA-PTB said it would refocus on working with factory workers as well as on field work in the communities where it operates. On the other hand, the PVDA-PTB said it would officially break with what it calls its sectarian past to get closer to the concrete demands of citizens. This is reflected particularly by the demands put forward on very concrete issues, e.g. lower prices for medication, the reduction of VAT on energy products from 21% to 6%, an increase of the minimum pension, better control of rents or the lower cost of trash bags.

In preparation for the Belgian elections of June 2007, the Solidarity newspaper and the website of the party were merged in order to reach a wider public. The structures have also been "open" to a broader layer of activists.

On 2 March 2008, the work of the Eighth Congress of the PVDA-PTB was completed with a closing meeting at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. This Congress was conducted with the theme of "party renewal." A new Central Committee was elected, which in turn elected a new Bureau of the Party.

This 'shift' seems to have produced some positive results, such as an increase in membership and a rebound of the electoral score of the PVDA-PTB in recent elections. The elections in May 2019 showed more progress: a breakthrough was realised at the Flemish and European level. Since 2018 the party is also represented in the municipal councils of larger cities in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The last elections in May 2020 saw the continued rise of the party, establishing theirselves as a major party in Brussels and Wallonia where they're part of the government with respectively the Greens and the Greens and Social Democrats.

In September 2014 the party had more than 8,000 members, in 2019 already 18.000 and in 2020 already 23,500. Its monthly publication "Solidarity / Solidarity" has between 3,000 and 5,000 subscribers. COMAC, its youth movement, is active in all the universities in Belgium and in secondary schools (in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels). The PVDA-PTB is also known for its 11 Medicine for the people medical centres, which provide free access to primary health care.

The newspaper Solidarity, and Medicine for the People organize "ManiFiesta", a yearly festival of solidarity between the communities and the left in Belgium. The first edition was held in Bredene (by the sea) on 25 September 2010 and brought together 6,000 people from both North and South of Belgium. The fourth edition in 2013 attracted 10,000 people

Platform

The party supports working's rights, wants more power back to the unions, increase the minimum wage to 15 euros, give a full wage for youngsters, automatic indexation for wages and decrease pension ages. They're supportive of a 30 hour work week. They want to increase the fight against poverty, by improving detection, taking specific measurements and increase all incomes above the poverty line.

They're supportive of free public transport, free education, free healthcare and the legalization of marijuana. They're supportive of the end of war on drugs, and marijuana regalisation with the right rules. They're in favour of a Green New Deal, in which they took inspiration in America, and want a carbon neutral free Belgium in 2030, like Cuba and Costa Rica. They're in favour of investing in infrastructure and public transport instead of commercial vehicles and motorways. They say Belgium is in desperate need of a social climate revolution. They want to democratize the digitalizing, and are in favour of a digital democracy.

On foreign policy, they want to loose tensions with Cuba and improve relations with many Latin-American countries. They want an independent Palestina and Kurdistan and want an active peace politics through diplomacy. They've said international trade agreements hurt the foreign workers and are opposed to leaders like Trump and Boris Johnson. "The only way to combat the right, is to go left."

Electoral results

The general elections of 2007 saw the party obtaining 0.88% in the Flemish electoral district and 0.81% in Wallonia.

In the regional elections in 2009 the PVDA-PTB gained 1.04% of the vote in Flanders (+0.48%) and 1.24% of the vote in Wallonia (+0.62%). For the European elections on the same day the results were: 0.98% in the Dutch-speaking electoral college (+0.37%) and 1.16% in the French-speaking electoral college (+0.35%).

In the general elections of June 2010 the party saw further growth. In Flanders it now represents 1.3% (+0.4%) of the votes for the Chamber of Representatives and 1.4% (+0.5%) for the Senate. Especially in the cities progress was noted with high scores in Antwerp (4.1%) and Liège (4.2%). The highest scores were gained in the cantons of Herstal (9.8%), Assenede (7.5%) and Seraing (7.3%); all places where the PVDA-PTB traditionally is strong.

The municipal and provincial elections in 2012 were considered a breakthrough on a local level for the PVDA-PTB. The party won 52 seats in total; 31 in municipal councils, 4 in provincial councils, and 17 in the district councils.

The federal and regional elections in 2014 saw further success for the party. They elected two deputies to the Chamber of Representatives, two others to the Walloon Parliament, and finally four to the Brussels Parliament.

An opinion poll released in July 2017 suggested the party was the most popular party in Wallonia at the time, with 25% of respondents indicating they intended to vote for the party. The second-most popular party was the Mouvement Réformateur, part of the governing coalition, with 23%. The poll indicated that the Workers' Party would win 26 seats in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives if the next federal election were held immediately, putting it in tied first place with the Flemish N-VA.

The party generally increased its vote share in the 2018 local elections, and won over 15% of the vote in several French-speaking cities.

In the 2019 Belgian federal election, the party scored well and gained 10 seats. The party did well in Wallonia (13.8% overall there), scoring over 16% in Liège Province, over 15% in Hainaut Province, and also over 12% in Brussels-Capital Region. It achieved at least 22% of the votes in both Charleroi and La Louvière cities. Its strongest showing in Flanders was 12.71% in Antwerp city. The PTB was also the fourth largest party in the European election the same day in the Francophone areas, winning 14.59% and giving it one seat.

In the 2020 Belgian federal election, the party scored even better and gained 14 seats. The party did well in Wallonia (25,2% overall), scoring over 30% in Liège Province, over 25% in Hainaut Province, and also over just 25% in Brussels-Capital Region.







source: wikipedia, added recent fiction stuff in it

[🥥🌴]

Recession hits the world, strike hard in Belgium

For the last few weeks, all stock markets have been in red day after day, and the BEL-20, the main stock market of Belgium wasn't being spared. At the contrary, because of lack of a stable government, it was hit the hardest of all with an aggregate loss of 60% in two weeks. World economic experts already have said that this might be the beginning of a global recession. In particular, Spain, Belgium, Israel, France, the UK and the Netherlands have been hit hard, while Eastern Europe seem to have limit losses.