Okay election done, negotiations starting today. It's going to be interesting.

Some observations:

-The PS is no longer the biggest party across the language border, first time ever

-Leterme seems the most likely prime minister at this point, considering the opinion of him in Wallony I'm not sure this is a good thing. His program is also focused primarily on Flanders, I'm not sure what he wants to do for the country as a whole.

-I actually think the idea of always having a Flemish minister is kinda perverse, especially with all the complaining going on about the influence of the Walloon politician on Belgian policy. I'd say the best course of action for CD&V-NVA would be to not take the prime minister post and use their political credit to reform the state, since that's what they promised.

-CDH doesn't seem to keen to rule alongside their 'sister' party CD&V.

-The 'liberals' are still the biggest fraction in the federal parliament, I hope to see enough liberal influence on policy. I want those tax cuts !

-The socialists are all but dead in Flanders.

-VB is now the third party in Flanders (narrowly), they barely gained any new voters.

Predictions:

-Catholic-Liberal government

-the state reform won't be too radical, won't happen, or will be different from what people expect (those who now something about the federal system in the first place)

-CD&V-NVA needs to pick its fights, they're the biggest in Flanders but have no friends in Wallony. I think we'll some surprising 'concessions' soon.

-MR will be the de facto strongest party in the federal government, since they do have friends. The 'liberal' mark on the government and policy will be clear.

-VB realises it has hit a ceiling, they'll need to compromise (as an opposition party support the CD&V-NVA) and appear more acceptable if they want to grow.

Worst fear:

The tri-partite, socialists (PS) part of the government, it would ruin everything that has been accomplished. Keeping them out *is* worth postponing the state reform.



Quote Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost
Actually, the best we can do (outside fusion) is work harder on thorium fission. Much less waste, much less risk of proliferation issues and almost all the major identified deposits (it's anyway more abundant than uranium) are in stable democracies.

Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread.
It's debatable, if we can use are nuclear waste and reduce the amount a hundred fold while getting energy out of it, I think it's worth taking a look at the option.



Quote Originally Posted by Fragony
The real radicals are the pro-immigration party's, multiculture muss sein.
Both sides have extremes, there doesn't seem to be any 'draagvlak' for extreme-left immigration politics here anymore, Groen! is the only party that still believes in those, and it's a secondary issue for them (and possibly why they didn't gain more votes).