A Divided Belgium Uniteds

Maha Dhurajai, Belgium

The recent elections in Belgium have gotten the entire country talking – ironically that is what the biggest issue in Belgium is; Belgian tensions have long centered on language, but are spreading to social attitudes and spending. Dutch and French language are separate in the north and south for everything from license plates, schools, shop and road signs, to public events. Political parties are not national, but Flemish or Walloon, and north and south vote separately and the recent voting was basically two elections for one government.

The biggest winners this year were Dutch speaking Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, or N-VA, which didn't even field candidates on its own in 2007 elections. The French-speaking Socialist Party advanced sharply over right-leaning opponents into second place; now the debate is heating up on who will be the next Prime Minister and forming a coalition government. The bet is on Elio Di Rupo, the mayor of the Walloon city of Mons, and the president of the French-speaking Socialist Party. Naturally, the thought of a Flemish nationalist party joining forces with a French speaking Socialist one, combined with the possibility of a French speaking Prime Minister has become quite a hot topic of discussion. Fuelled by the sensitivities around the North and the South, with the Dutch speaking North being more affluent economically, it has been interesting times indeed.

Things got even more exciting when Filip Dewinter, the frontman of Vlaams Belang, an extreme right wing Femish party (who incidentally changed the spelling of his name from Philippe to make it more Flemish and less “French”) tweeted “Di Rupo Premier? No way! Then I will move to Namibia …”

 

The Belgian “consumers” stood up and took action. Almost immediately, a Facebook page was set-up and in less than 48 hours, the group had garnered 16.000 members and the figure grew to 54.134 members. The public was urging him to keep his promise as he is known for always claiming to keep his word. Naturally, media also joined the masses and it even got attention from International media.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/19/belgian-unionists-nationalists-gay-premier

For a country that is just on the verge of embracing social media completely, this was a clear display of how an empowered public, or in this instance action consumers can truly make waves. And in this case, it was a country united – despite the sensitive issue at hand, so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel after all?

Politics have always been delicate matter in Belgium, and this situation is definitely a significant example on the power of the people and how consumers can unite to action change.

Will Filip Dewinter move to Namibia? Maybe the Namibians will set up their own social media campaign to keep him out – with his extreme views towards immigration, it would not come as a surprise!