May 9, 2008

BEIRUT...BELGIUM...THE MAJORITY LIKES TO GOVERN:

Belgian prime minister survives showdown on regions (Reuters, May 9, 2008)

Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium survived a showdown in Parliament on Friday, winning time to avert a fresh crisis for the linguistically divided nation and to forge a deal to give more powers to the regions.

Flemish lawmakers, including Leterme's Christian Democrats, carried out their threat to advance a bill to redraw the electoral boundaries around Brussels after Leterme failed to persuade French-speaking parties to accept the demands of the Flemish.

The Dutch-speaking Flemish majority pushed the bill onto the agenda in a vote in the early hours of Friday, but the session was suspended before debate could begin after French-speaking parties introduced stalling amendments.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 9, 2008 4:21 PM
Comments

And yet there won't be a violent battle in Brussels.

Posted by: Brandon at May 9, 2008 6:16 PM

Hard to find much turf in Europe that's seen more battles. Now that the majority is in the ascendancy you won't have one.

Once there's a Hezbollahstan you won't hear a peep out of the Druze either.

Posted by: oj at May 9, 2008 6:42 PM
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