Bram Gotink
12-18-2008, 14:09
It's official now,
The Belgian Government has fallen.
It is a little bit too early, we still have a government atm, but that's about to change.
I'll tell you the entire story, so bear with me.
In October, Fortis is in big trouble, so the Belgian government sells part of the Fortis holding : the Belgian bank and Belgian insurances; to BNP Paribas. As a reaction, the shares/stock/ w/e plummet and are now worth maximum one tenth of three months before.
The shareholders decide to go to court and say that the sale is illegal. Court agrees, so the sale's off.
The Belgian government isn't happy with that, and they win the case in appeal.
So far, so good.
Yesterday (wednesday 17/12/2008), our PM wrote an open letter saying that one of his employees/coworkers has had contact with the court in appeal. He explains, blablabla...
Of course, once that letter was out, the opposition was outraged and demanded the resignation of the PM and thus the government.
Today, the "Hof van Cassatie" (~High Court) has written an open letter, explaining that the Belgian Government has tried to influence the court to make sure that Fortis could be sold.
Don't get me wrong, Fortis HAS to be sold, otherwise it's bound to be bankrupt and a lot of people are losing their jobs and money. The coworker of the PM has "asked to be transferred to a commission that would take care of the bank problem" ...
The problem is, however, that Belgium has a separation of powers; meaning that justice and the government are not the same. This is a total violation of that.
This morning, before the letter of the High Court, the government supported the PM. Now no one knows what might happen... I expect the PM to resign tomorrow or soon after... Which means new elections, yay; and a new formation (hope that doesn't take half a year like last time), yay !
So, unless the PM has a good explanation for these events, he must resign or he will be fired by the parliament.
Which would mean that Belgium would have no federal government in these hard times of crisis after crisis. Thank you, Yves Leterme !
The Belgian Government has fallen.
It is a little bit too early, we still have a government atm, but that's about to change.
I'll tell you the entire story, so bear with me.
In October, Fortis is in big trouble, so the Belgian government sells part of the Fortis holding : the Belgian bank and Belgian insurances; to BNP Paribas. As a reaction, the shares/stock/ w/e plummet and are now worth maximum one tenth of three months before.
The shareholders decide to go to court and say that the sale is illegal. Court agrees, so the sale's off.
The Belgian government isn't happy with that, and they win the case in appeal.
So far, so good.
Yesterday (wednesday 17/12/2008), our PM wrote an open letter saying that one of his employees/coworkers has had contact with the court in appeal. He explains, blablabla...
Of course, once that letter was out, the opposition was outraged and demanded the resignation of the PM and thus the government.
Today, the "Hof van Cassatie" (~High Court) has written an open letter, explaining that the Belgian Government has tried to influence the court to make sure that Fortis could be sold.
Don't get me wrong, Fortis HAS to be sold, otherwise it's bound to be bankrupt and a lot of people are losing their jobs and money. The coworker of the PM has "asked to be transferred to a commission that would take care of the bank problem" ...
The problem is, however, that Belgium has a separation of powers; meaning that justice and the government are not the same. This is a total violation of that.
This morning, before the letter of the High Court, the government supported the PM. Now no one knows what might happen... I expect the PM to resign tomorrow or soon after... Which means new elections, yay; and a new formation (hope that doesn't take half a year like last time), yay !
So, unless the PM has a good explanation for these events, he must resign or he will be fired by the parliament.
Which would mean that Belgium would have no federal government in these hard times of crisis after crisis. Thank you, Yves Leterme !