Yesterday Belgium was awarded the prize for the longest period ever for a state to have no government, 249 days. This follows an inconclusive election result last year, about which I write here:

http://cep.rhul.ac.uk/cep-blog/2010/6/15/coalition-formation-in-belgium.html

In my original blog, I outlined 3 solutions as follows:

Solution 1: grand coalition of incompatible winners, the Flemish Liberal Nationalists of the NVA who want to introduce fiscal federalism to the benefit of Flanders and the Socialists who won the elections in the French speaking part of Belgium (though coming third in Flanders) and who want to guarantee continued redistribution at the expense of the Flemish. To form a majority this would also need either the Liberals (VLD and MR) or the Christian Democrats (CD&V and CDH) or the Greens (Groen and Ecolo).

Solution 2: an anti-nationalist government of Socialists, Liberals, Christian Democrats and Greens, excluding by far the largest party in Flanders, the NVA.

Solution 3: an anti-Socialist government, like solution 2 except that it would be led by the NVA and would exclude the Socialists. This would have to include the Greens in order to form a majority in the French-speaking part of the country.

To mark the great day of non-coalition formation, Belgium’s European Commissioner, Karel De Gucht, who is a member of the Flemish Liberal Democrats (VLD) suggested that Solution 2 is becoming the most obvious outcome. It seems the NVA is more dispensable than the Socialists. This may be due to the Greens not wishing to prop up an otherwise centre-right government, which is what would happen under Solution 3.

Nonetheless the build up to yesterday was momentous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnqkPjoqrUY