This defeats the slow formation that culminated in the government of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. The establishment of this national government started in 2010 and lasted 541 days: a world record.
Because Brussels is not a sovereign country – it is a kind of federal state – it will not be included in the Guinness World Records.
Drug war Brussels: minister wants to deploy soldiers
There is no prospect of a new government for the capital region – with more than 1.2 million inhabitants. In fact, political parties still argue about who is allowed to negotiate with each other. It is not easy: left and right are mutually exclusive and a majority is needed among both French and Dutch speakers in parliament.
Shutdown
On Monday there was another protest by angry residents of Brussels against political incompetence. The deterioration in the city is visibly increasing. There is no money to do anything about that.
The financial situation is dramatic. The Brussels Minister of Finance recently even warned the VRT about the risk of a ‘shutdown’, in which public services would be shut down due to a lack of money.
The Brussels Capital Region, as the administrative layer is officially called, emerged as a concept after yet another state reform. Belgium has a total of six governments and six parliaments.