@bief:
"The forming of a governing coalition will be interesting."
lol. you mean very long. Its going to be the same way in belgium.

@WFS:
the only truth in them is that the people who participated with some probability told them the opinion the polls show.
1.) You ask only the opinion of a few people out of many.
2.) They can tell what they want.
3.) The people who have to note these opinions down (it often happens via telephone) can mishear or misinterpret what they hear.
4.) Those people can also note what they want.
5.) The questions can be misinterpreted, or can be to simple.

Next to that, the group interrogated is already very selective because they wanted to participate and have time to do so.

I worked as a programmer for a company who made polls long time ago. You would laugh at the way it is done. I keep telling everybody it is a lie. They often adjust figures so the result is possible in their eyes or to manipulate public opinion.

And guess who is the fortunate citizen who has to show up at 7.30 on Sunday as deputy election judge / bijzitter? X(

There goes my lazy Sunday X( X(

if you are the deputy election judge, you have to bring koffiekoeken, according to tradition!

Excellent question Chris! I wonder if there is any regulation on dresscode.

I will wear a croissant, and dare anyone to remove it.

no koffiekoeken for youuuuu!!!!

> Commander Christ wrote:

> if you are the deputy election judge, you have to bring koffiekoeken, according to tradition!

if i m right that would be for chief election judge, also possible is a dinner later that week and some beers after elections

then put these guys on the ballot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A

and split their vote

DAMN you guys get to drink near a polling place...

"The result of all this is that the King now had to ask to a flemish nationalist republican to prepare the road for a socialist walloon gay man to form a government that will dismantle the state over time. "

He should have said "Hell I'm a Belgian King, Im SUPPOSED to create constitutional crises, I'm sure I read that somewhere....dad said it often enough...screw it, I'm gonna ask the Commies to form a govt and go fishing for a year"

> They'll either have to make great concessions to the PS (wich I hope), and a part of their supporters will be disappointed. Or, they don't make great concessions and they lose votes cause they don't want to make deals..

Do I understand you're hoping the only flemish party to put up a fight against stagnation and institutional abuse will go down? And that the party that gave us Daerden, Flahaut and a daily corruption scandal will win?

They also caused this stagnation. They quite sooner. Thats all.

But you're not thinking it over. What will happen if he gets his "reform" you think?
1.) The biggest socialist reform in the history of Belgium PS style comrade zoz.
2.) Part of the social system will come to flanders. It can't be everything because the PS is against it. So it will be things like pensions.

THIS IS A DISASTER. After all this years of flanders paying walonia, walonia has to pay flanders back (there are far more old people in flanders)... and then we say no thank you, keep your money.

LP: You're not thinking realistically. De Wever is not going to get all he wants, because the entire institutional system is rigged against it. Wake up. You'd like 150, ask for 200 and get 100. Refusing anything less than 200, which you do, gets you in a sad lonely and powerless place: opposition. Seriously; how would you make that kind of 'money-back' demands happen the way the state is now, short of revolution and coercion?

1. State reform is a gradual process. It's been going on since the sixties, and each reform is progress. From the unitary state, getting cultural autonomy was first, than economical, now we get institutional and hopefully a bit of social. There's no magic wand.
2. Whatever we can get we should get. I don't know about you, but I'd love to see pensions become a regional responsibility. That way at least something will be left when I get to that age. There is already the Vlaamse Zorgverzekering, which sets a base for flemish social security.

@zoz:
"You're not thinking realistically. De Wever is not going to get all he wants, because the entire institutional system is rigged against it. Wake up. You'd like 150, ask for 200 and get 100. Refusing anything less than 200, which you do, gets you in a sad lonely and powerless place: opposition."
He can't go for little changes, that would be electoral suicide. So IF he succeeds it also means the PS gets a whole lot in return. Now if you think the PS only has a walonian version of the spa program you are mistaken terribly.

"Seriously; how would you make that kind of 'money-back' demands happen the way the state is now, short of revolution and coercion?"
That is very simple. Pensions are a far bigger cost then unemployment aid. And Flanders is going to have the biggest part of the oldies. It is a HUGE amount of money and only need one mevrouw nee to counter any reforms. It would mean the transfers to Flanders would be much larger as any transfers to walonia ever were.

You don't have to do anything to achieve it except from doing nothing. That's the joke.

"2. Whatever we can get we should get."
Most things are European already. And no it would be ridiculous to split up the army, to split up the police or foreign matters. Not only will it be very costly, but also ridiculous.