Flemish parliament gagged

Last week, the leaders of the majority fractions in the Flemish parliament announced an agreement no member of the majority parties are allowed to interpellate and question Flemish government members without the consent of ALL fraction leaders. Alternate majorities are also forbidden. This muzzles the Flemish parliament effectively and kills parliamentary democracy (or whatever was still left of it). At least now the ruling parties admit Flanders (and Belgium) is a particraty and thus an oligarchy. The party leaders rule the country. The only opposition parties are Groen! and Vlaams Belang. Belgium and the Netherlands are poles apart. In the Netherlands, often the most vehement opposition and the most pertinent questions are often asked by MPs of the government parties. That's what democraty should be about.

Next week, the VLD (Flemish liberals) elect a new president. It's going to be an interesting race between interim president and former Flemish prime minister Bart Somers and Jean-Marie Dedecker, a more right-wing populist. The whole party apparate supports Somers, but Dedecker has growing support among the VLD base, which is tired of the leftist course of the Flemish and federal governments. Dedecker is also not afraid of saying what the base thinks and by doing this, going against party directions. He might not be a good party leader, but the VLD needs changes if it wants to get 20% of the votes in the next elections.

Also last week, the associations of Flemish public and private hospitals demanded the regionalization of the federal healthcare system. Brussels and Walloon hospitals are overspending (more than 20% health expenses per capita than Flanders) and the federal healthcare budget has to contend with a huge deficit. Federal Health Minister Demotte (PS) denies there is a problem with Francophone hospitals and says everybody has to reduce his expenses. Flemish hospitals do not agree. They say abuses in Francophone Belgium have to be dealt with first. Unfortunately, the week before, a memo of a Mechlin hospital (owned by the VUB) urged doctors to increase earnings by making people come back unnecessarily and only referring them to hospital or VUB doctors. Ofcourse, this behaviour is outrageous. But that doesn't mean there is a problem in the federal health system. There is not only a difference in spending, but also in priorities. Francophone hospitals spend more on radiology, clinical examinations and medicines, while Flemish hospitals spend a lot more on palliative care and psychological support for patients. There seems to a fundamental different view on healthcare spendings between the two parts of the country. So it is maybe not a bad idea to give them both a budget and let them decide on their own how they want to spend it.