Bart De Wever, aged 54, has been appointed as Belgium’s new prime minister. This morning, King Philippe of Belgium swore in De Wever, a Flemish nationalist, along with members of the new cabinet.
Over the weekend, the five coalition parties agreed to join the government. Alongside De Wever’s Flemish nationalist N-VA, the coalition includes the social-democratic Vooruit, the Francophone liberal party MR, and the Christian democratic parties CD&V from Flanders and Les Engagés from Wallonia.
Each of the five parties will appoint a deputy prime minister, notably with no women among them. Women are significantly underrepresented in the rest of the cabinet, comprising only four out of fifteen members.
The new coalition is referred to as the Arizona coalition, due to the party colors resembling the flag of the U.S. state of the same name. The formation of this cabinet followed lengthy negotiations, with Belgians having gone to the polls seven months ago.
De Wever is expected to have a busy day, according to VRT. Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, he will meet with his predecessor Alexander De Croo, attend the European defense summit in Brussels at 11:00 AM, and hold discussions with NATO chief Mark Rutte and later with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Source: NOS