Fries & Ministers

Ladies and gentlemen,

Belgian Fries

The moment is almost there. Today the last political parties consulted their followers and asked them to vote in favour or against the political agreement reached by the negotiators. A couple of hours ago the last party accepted the agreement with an approval rate of about 98% (as did all parties). Although they all complained that the political agreement didn't correspond in a satisfactory manner to their party viewpoints, they all gave their consent because of the historical nature of the agreement. And, undoubtedly, we all agree about that after 539 days after the last elections. So, tonight the last thing they are deciding is who will get which position in the new government. Given the reforms that will have to be introduced not everyone is eager to participate at this government  but hey, the pay isn't that bad, so they will find the 'right' candidates by tomorrow morning.

This means that tomorrow the new government will be sworn in at exactly 540 days with only 2.5 years left, because they already used up the rest of the 4 years...

King Albert II

But don't be fooled. I'm not all that interested in this new government, as shouldn't you! Of far more importance is the fact that today, Sunday December 4, 2011 is the last day of 'The week of the Belgian (!) Fries'. Both the Flemish and the French speaking communities in Belgium celebrated the so called French fries in their own way. The Flemish distributed free Belgian fries each day in another mayor city in Flanders. The Walloons could exchange their newspapers for their portion of fries and they organized a competition called 'Declare your love for the Fries'. Both also added a creative touch to the event: Flanders made a parody on the King's annual speech and the Walloons brought us a Song of the Fries (warning: a bit loud!).

For those who want to explore a bit more, have a look at:

Flemish: http://www.weekvandefriet.be

French: http://www.semainedelafrite.be

And to prove that Belgium remains united, even after the 540 days of the Belgian political version of 'waiting for Godot', there is the site of the Belgian National Union of Fries-makers.

Now, the past few days I realized that sometimes it is hard to explain what's going on or to have an insight in Belgium and why we need 540 days to form a government in the heart of 'United' Europe. So, I decided to offer you for the rest of the week each day - if I succeed - a relaxing, but insightful video showing some aspect of Belgium. Be it a general introduction, or a look at one of it's cities. In any case you will get to know something you didn't know before. 

Here's the introduction for today: A video that is exactly tailored to this Sunday, in between the Belgian Fries and the new Belgian government. Enjoy!

A short animated film about the Belgian political structure. The text was written by Marcel Sel, a Belgian writer, author of Walen Buiten, a best-seller on the «Belgian Crisis». The music was specifically composed by Laurent Aglat for the film, and Emma Dornan's beautiful voice gave the commentary its magical tone. The film was directed by Jerome de Gerlache. And a special thanks to Karine Quarant-Schmidt ! blog.marcelsel.com laurentaglat.com jeromedegerlache.com

Now, after showing you my first introduction I would like to just mention that although I'm a Belgian, I'm living abroad. Well, not that far abroad: now I live in Switzerland. Before that and throughout my life I moved around the globe quite a bit, which gave me some special insights in what's going on in my home country. You know 'distance enables insight', that sort of thing. Maybe later I'll do a week on Switzerland.

iNR