Belgians Press Politicians to Form Government
By STEPHEN CASTLE
NYT
BRUSSELS — Defying the normal conventions of protest politics, more than 30,000 Belgians rallied here on Sunday not to try to get rid of a government, but to press their squabbling politicians to form one.
The demonstration, which students began on the Internet and labeled “Shame,” was the first clear sign of popular frustration at the country’s protracted political crisis and its worrying effect on financial markets.
More than seven months after elections produced political deadlock, the impasse has increased speculation that Belgium, which is divided between Dutch speakers in the north and French speakers in the south, might ultimately split.
The country recently achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the European nation to go for the longest time in recent history without a government, overtaking a record set in the Netherlands in 1977. A tongue-in-cheek Web site now counts down to the moment when it calculates that Belgium would take the world record, held by Iraq.
(More here.)
NYT
BRUSSELS — Defying the normal conventions of protest politics, more than 30,000 Belgians rallied here on Sunday not to try to get rid of a government, but to press their squabbling politicians to form one.
The demonstration, which students began on the Internet and labeled “Shame,” was the first clear sign of popular frustration at the country’s protracted political crisis and its worrying effect on financial markets.
More than seven months after elections produced political deadlock, the impasse has increased speculation that Belgium, which is divided between Dutch speakers in the north and French speakers in the south, might ultimately split.
The country recently achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the European nation to go for the longest time in recent history without a government, overtaking a record set in the Netherlands in 1977. A tongue-in-cheek Web site now counts down to the moment when it calculates that Belgium would take the world record, held by Iraq.
(More here.)
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