Kommunalwahlen: Belgisches politisches System zu komplex und problematisch, kommt zu dem Schluss der Studie

From the article:

>Belgium has not only six governments – five regional and one federal – throughout Brussels, Wallonia, Flanders and its small German-speaking region, but also a staggering 31,806 politicians and employees sustaining its offices and cabinets.

>That is a key message of a study on Belgian politics carried out by Jean Hindriks, economics professor at UCLouvain university and Alexandre Lamfalussy, researcher for LIDAM (Leuven Institute of Data Analysis and Monitoring).

>“These figures illustrate the weight, complexity and dysfunction of our political institutions, from the federal level to the local level of cities, municipalities and provinces, including the regional and community levels,” the researchers noted, adding that “this multiplication of power levels and political structures entails significant costs and chronic inaction”.

>Indeed, the country’s 54 ministers and secretaries of state, supported by some 2,000 members of ministerial cabinets, “represent a real annual cost of more than €300 million, far more than the official budgets,” the researchers said in a study also highlighting the wide disparities in government between Flanders and Wallonia.

>This political labyrinth is not only expensive to manage, but the researchers also emphasised how the accumulation of mandates in Belgium makes governing more difficult: “Some MPs have up to 20 mandates, and a majority of federal MPs combine their mandate with a local one. Conflicts of interest are common.”

>Ultimately, Belgium’s political web with seven parliaments, six governments and five levels of power is not only often ineffective, but also very hard to understand, the researchers say.

>They conclude that Belgium should change to a simplified system with fewer staff, as “the fragmentation of powers and dilution of responsibilities in a complex institutional web often leaves Belgians bewildered… and hardly leads to effective policies”.