BELGIUM: COMPOSITION OF NEW GOVERNMENT HEADED BY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001965

SIPDIS

USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/WNE/JLEVINE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINR BE
SUBJECT: BELGIUM: COMPOSITION OF NEW GOVERNMENT HEADED BY
HERMAN VAN ROMPUY

REF: BRUSSELS 1961


1. (U) Herman Van Rompuy became Belgium's Prime Minister
on December 30, and will lead a government mostly composed of
the same Ministers who served outgoing PM Yves Leterme. The
few ministerial changes are Stefaan de Clercq at Justice
(replacing Jo Vandeurzen),Guido de Padt at Interior,
replacing Patrick Dewael, who becomes Leader of the House,
and, in a last-minute change, Steven Vanackere as Minister of
Public Works/Enterprise and Institutional Reform.
Vanackere's predecessor, Inge Vervotte, submitted her
resignation mid-afternoon on December 30 in "solidarity" with
outgoing PM Leterme and Vandeurzen, according to press
reports. Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht kept his
position and was also designated to be a Deputy Prime
Minister.


2. (U) The new government, Belgium's third in the last 18
months, will face a daunting list of responsibilities in the
run-up to June 2009's regional and European elections:
adjusting the 2009 budget to tougher economic and fiscal
realities brought on by the recession, while fine-tuning the
stimulus package designed by the Leterme administration;
implementing the 2009-10 wage agreement; re-starting the
dialogue between Belgium's Flemish and Walloon communities;
and managing the hoped-for sale of Fortis Bank to BNP Paribas
(assuming the courts rule that the sale may proceed) and
providing additional help if needed to other Belgian banks
(e.g., Dexia). And the new government must do this while
trying to keep its five-party coalition together through the
June elections and beyond to 2011.


LIST OF MINISTERS
--------------


3. Here is the make-up of the new government (unofficial
English translations from the French provided by Embassy
Brussels) sworn in the evening of December 30 by King Albert
II (* designates change of personnel from Leterme government):

Prime Minister: Herman Van Rompuy*
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and
Institutional Reforms: Didier Reynders
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and
Public Health: Laurette Onkelinx
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Karel
De Gucht
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Affairs, Public
Enterprises and Institutional Reforms: Steven Van Ackere*
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Equality of
Opportunity: Joelle Milquet
Minister of Justice: Stefaan De Clercq*
Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Independent
Business, Agriculture and Science Policy: Sabine Laruelle
Minister of Social Integration, Retirement and Urban Centers:
Marie Arena
Minister of Defense: Pieter De Crem
Minister of Climate and Energy: Paul Magnette
Minister of Development Cooperation: Charles Michel
Minister for Enterprise and Simplification: Vincent Van
Quickenborne
Minister of Immigration and Asylum Policy: Annemie Turtelboom
Minister of Interior: Guido De Padt*

SOME BACKROUND ON VAN ROMPUY
--------------


4. Van Rompuy is the first economist to serve as Prime
Minister in the last 27 years. Perhaps showing the
importance that budgetary matters will have, Van Rompuy, who
was budget minister from 1992-97 and in that job successfully
engineered improvements in Belgium's public finances, will
have the State Minister for Budget report directly to him, no
longer to the Minister of Finance. Van Rompuy lives in the
Brussels region, and reportedly has good contacts with
Belgium's francophone politicians. Van Rompuy's
administration could take on a more pro-business bent, with
the departure of Leterme, Vandeurzen and Vervotte, who were
more aligned with the trade union faction of the CD&V.



5. Unofficial bio of Minister of Justice Stefaan De Clerck
(unofficial translation from the French by Embassy Brussels,
source: LeSoir.be)

51 years old, born in the Flemish city of Kortrijk. Studied

BRUSSELS 00001965 002 OF 002


law at Catholic University of Leuven. Practiced law in
Kortrijk, where he is mayor. Quickly made a name for himself
in politics. Became a representative of the Federal
parliament in 1990, and was already considered as being
potential ministerial material when the first Dehaene
government was formed (1992-95). Five years later he became
Minister of Justice in the second Dehaene
administration.(1995-99).

In April 1998, though, he became one of the "political
victims" of the Dutroux affaire (note: Marc Dutroux was
convicted of murder and child pornography),pushed to
retirement following the short period when Dutroux, the most
notorious of Belgian prisonners, escaped from the Belgian
police. However, it was due to a push by De Clerck and the
work of the Dutroux Commission that a more rapid reform of
the judicial system was begun.

De Clerck was president of the CVP (and subsequently the
CD&V) from 1999 to 2003. He became president following
legislative elections in which the Flemish Christian
Democrats were pushed from power for the first time in 40
years. But De Clerck himself remained popular and was able
to obtain satisfactory results for his party in the communal
elections of 2000. The year 2000 was also when he became
mayor of Kortrijk, a post he still occupies.

As head of the CD&V, De Clerck began the process of renewing
the party, which started during a party congress at the end
of September 2001, when the party was renamed the Christian
Democrats and Flemish party, and also when the party adopted
a "confederated state" model. De Clerck was also a senator
in 2003 and 2004, and is a member of Parliament.

Post adds that De Clerck was an International Visitor (IV)
grantee in 1992, is generally pro-U.S., and is a basketball
fan.



6. Unofficial bio of Minister of Interior Guido De Padt
(unofficial translation from the French by Embassy Brussels,
source: LeSoir.be)

54 years old, member of Parliament of the Open Vld party, is
frequently cited in the Flemish press.

He succeeds Patrick Dewael, also of the Open Vld, who in turn
replaces Herman Van Rompuy, who became Prime Minister, as
Leader of the House in Parliament.

Guido De Padt was born in Geraardsbergen on May 23, 1954. He
studied law and was formerly a lawyer, beginning his
political career in 1982 as a provincial advisor in eastern
Flanders, and vice-mayor of Geraardsbergen. From 1994 to
2000, he was a member of the regional parliament and from
2001 to 2006 was mayor of Geraardsbergen.

Following the communal elections of 2006, he lost his mayoral
position to the sp.a party. He then became vice-mayor in
charge of culture, tourism, libraries, archives and
patrimony, as well as president of the CPAS.

De Padt has been a member of the federal Parliament since

2003. He has been most active in issues relating to road
safety, mobility, public enterprises, police and public
safety. He has pushed for a (service minimum dans les
services publiques).

He is one of the "champions" of parliamentary questions. In
the legislative session from 2003-07, he introduced 743
questions for the record. Since November 2007, he has
alreay submitted an additional 571, roughly one per day, on
average. He often also provides press communiques regarding
his questions, thus keeping himself in the media spotlight.

Post adds that De Padt is from the same region as immigration
minister Turtelboom and is from the same party, which may
improve the government's ability to coordinate policies on
matters that touch both ministries.


7. Post will provide biographic information on Steven Van
Ackere at a later date. Van Ackere is also an economist, and
is from the Brussels region, and also reportedly has good
contacts with Belgium's francophone community.
BUSH
.