For the first time in five years, the people of Belgium go to the polls on Sunday 9 June. Millions of Belgians will then elect their representatives in the federal parliament. What does federal politics mean for our daily lives? And what role does the federal parliament play in it? We have tried to find the answers.
What does the federal parliament do? And what impact do federal politicians have on your life?
Colin Clapson
Published:
Since the creation of Belgium, politicians have governed the country from the Wetstraat in Brussels, Belgium’s political nerve centre. Here you will find the seat of government at Number 16 and the federal parliament opposite the Park of Brussels. For almost 200 years, representatives of the people have met here in parliament to debate and enact laws.
The Belgian or federal level of government is the oldest in the country that came into existence when southerners rebelled against the rule of King William I of the Netherlands in 1830. Until then – from 1815 and the fall of Napoleon – Belgium had been slapped together with our northern cousins, but it was not a happy reunion.
What decisions are taken by our federal institutions?
Politicians who sit in the federal parliament make decisions that apply to the whole country. They decide what happens with most of the revenue raised in taxes, how much pension you get, who is entitled to sickness benefit and how much of your doctor’s fee is reimbursed: it is all decided at the Belgian level.
After years of discussion, Belgium recently adopted a new criminal code. The federal government decides on which crimes can incur a punishment and what nature this punishment will take. Politicians also take the decisions that affect citizens’ and the country’s security. Federal ministers are responsible for the army, the police and state security.
Which and how much taxes we pay, whether we keep nuclear power plants open and how we deal with asylum seekers: all these are issues decided on the federal level.
Even the service provided by the state-owned rail company depends indirectly on politics. This is because it is the federal state represented by the Belgian government that owns the NMBS and sets its budget.
Belgium is a complicated country
Powers in Belgium are exercised at different political levels. In some policy areas, it is clear who is responsible, but just as often powers are divvied up between the national level and the federated states.
During the corona pandemic eight ministers and one secretary of state across all levels exercised powers over public health. Each was responsible for dealing with part of the approach to the pandemic.
Sometimes even politicians don’t know where responsibility lies and have to call on experts to know exactly how powers are divided.
The federal level also always takes the lead in a national crisis. Think, for instance, of the press conferences where corona measures were explained during the pandemic. The prime minister and foreign minister are also Belgium's representatives on the European and international stage.
What is the role of the federal parliament?
On 9 June, Belgians over 18 will elect the 150 members of the lower house of the federal parliament, who will represent them for the next five years. MPs sit in the Chamber of Representatives, often called the Chamber for short.
MPs hail from all over the country. Each province - or constituency - has a fixed number of elected members. The more inhabitants a province has, the more representatives in parliament. Antwerp, for example, has 24, Luxembourg only 4. Within each province, seats are distributed on the basis of the election results.
French-speaking and Dutch-speaking parties
Currently, 12 parties are represented in the Chamber. 5 French-speaking, 6 Dutch-speaking and one national party, the PVDA-PTB or Labour Party. The N-VA was the party with the highest number of seats during the last parliament, the Brussels-based Défi is the smallest party in the chamber.
Each part of the country has its own parties. As a result, as a Belgian you cannot vote for all parties represented in parliament. The country's largest party, the PS or Francophone socialists, only stands in Wallonia and Brussels. Open VLD - the prime minister's Flemish liberal party - only in Flanders and Brussels. Inhabitants of Flanders and Wallonia can only vote for parties from the other part of the country in exceptional cases. The N-VA, for example, has decided to stand in Wallonia for the first time.
What does the federal parliament do?
The main task of the Chamber of Representatives is to make laws. In practice, it is usually the government that takes the initiative to introduce a new law or reform an existing one. MPs then get to work on it. They discuss the details and fine-tune the law before giving it final approval.
Senate
The federal parliament still consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. There have been no separate elections for the latter since 2014. The Senate has 60 members. Most of them are elected by a regional or community parliament and represent their region.
In reality, the Senate no longer wields real political power and meets only 10 times a year. Several parties are eager to abolish it.
Parliament also checks the work of the government. MPs can question and hold ministers to account. This is a role mainly reserved for opposition MPs from parties that are not in government.
What is the role of the federal government?
Much more than the parliament, it’s the government that determines the policy and direction of our country. It has 15 ministers and five junior ministers, in Belgium confusingly called secretaries of state. Each excellency is responsible for their own domain. They ensure that policies that have been agreed are also effectively implemented and propose new laws and regulations. Ministers always do this in consultation with the other members of the government. Only when everyone agrees can the government decide anything.
At the head of the government we currently find Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Under the Belgian constitution half of all government ministers have to be Dutch-speaking, the other half French-speaking. The PM is usually language-neutral. This rule does not apply to junior ministers.
A colour for every season
The current federal government - also known as the Vivaldi Coalition - consists of seven parties: the Francophone socialists of PS, the Flemish socialists of Vooruit, the Flemish liberals of the Open VLD and the Francophone liberals of MR, the Flemish Christian democrats of CD&V and the Flemish and Francophone ecologists of Groen and Ecolo. Never have so many parties been needed to get a majority of seats in parliament.
Who wields the power?
Critical minds doubt whether Belgium's parliaments and their governments wield real power in the country, but point to Belgium’s political parties as the bodies where real decisions are taken.
The parties decide who gets which place on the list of candidates in the election and who stands a chance of being elected. It’s the party leaders who decide who becomes a minister. Party leaders also play a big role in policy decisions. They consult with government ministers belonging to their party, especially on the big dossiers. MPs often have to follow the line set out by their party.
The government is not directly elected. Parties that together can command a majority of votes in parliament can decide to form a government coalition.
Participating in elections or being elected is not a requirement to becoming a minister. The ruling parties choose who to put forward as a minister. The current justice minister Paul van Tigchelt (Flemish liberal/Open VLD) and interior minister Annelies Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat/CD&V) have never stood in national elections.
Towards another long government formation trial?
Belgium often holds a dubious record. Here it often takes that longest time in the world for government formation talks to end in success and for a coalition government to be installed. This is mainly due to the fact that different parties often emerge as victors in the various parts of the country and are then condemned to form a government together.
In 2011, negotiations on a new federal government dragged on for so long that Belgium remained without a new government for more than 500 days. That is more than a year! During such periods, the old government continues to run the country as a caretaker administration, although ministers can only take a limited number of decisions.
Today again there are fears that government negotiations will drag on for a long time after 9 June as the parties set to do well in the north and the south have conflicting priorities and platforms!