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Federal Public Service
The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. The federal government is led by the prime minister of Belgium, and ministers lead ministries of the government. Ministers together form the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive organ of the government (equivalent to a cabinet). Formally, executive power is vested in the king, who formally appoints the ministers. However, under the Constitution of Belgium, the king is not politically responsible for exercising his powers, but must exercise it through the ministers. The king's acts are not valid unless countersigned by a minister, and the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the act. Thus, in practice, the ministers do the actual day-to-day work of gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coat Of Arms Of Belgium
The coat of arms of Belgium bears a Lion (heraldry), lion Or (heraldry), or, known as Leo Belgicus (Latin for ''the Belgian lion''), as its Charge (heraldry), charge. This is in accordance with article 193 (originally 125) of the Constitution of Belgium, Belgian Constitution: ''The Belgian nation takes red, yellow and black as colours, and as state coat of arms the Belgian lion with the motto UNITY MAKES STRENGTH''. A royal decree of 17 March 1837 determines the Achievement (heraldry), achievement to be used in the greater and the lesser version, respectively. History The newly independent Kingdom of Belgium decided to base its coat of arms and flag on the symbols used by the short-lived United States of Belgium, United Belgian States. These came into being after the Southern Netherlands threw off Austrian rule. It existed as an independent polity from January to December 1790. The Duchy of Brabant had taken the lead in the so-called Brabant Revolution, the insurrection against Jos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchy Of Belgium
The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces. There have been seven List of Belgian monarchs, Belgian monarchs since independence in 1830. The incumbent, Philippe of Belgium, Philippe, ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following the abdication of his father Albert II of Belgium, Albert II. Origins When Belgium gained independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1830, the National Congress of Belgium, National Congress chose a constitutional monarchy as the form of government. The Congress voted on the question on 22 November 1830, supporting monarchy by 174 votes to 13. In February 1831, the Congress nominated Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours, Louis, Duke of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motion Of Confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office. The no-confidence vote is a defining constitutional element of a parliamentary system, in which the government's/executive's mandate rests upon the continued support (or at least non-opposition) of the majority in the legislature. Systems differ in whether such a motion may be directed against the prime minister, against the government (this could be a majority government or a minority government/coalition government), against individual cabinet ministers, against the cabinet as a whole, or some combination of the above. A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion. In a parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence leads to the resignation of the prime minister and cabinet, or, depen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Order (Belgium)
In Belgium, a royal decree (RD) or royal order ( in Dutch, arrêté royal in French, or königlicher Erlass in German) is a federal government decree implementing legislation, or exercising powers the legislature has delegated to the crown as secondary legislation. Under the Constitution of Belgium, the king cannot act alone. While the monarch is vested with executive power, it is exercised through his ministers. Hence, while Royal Orders are issued with the king's signature, they must be countersigned by a minister to be valid. In turn, the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the order. Its implementation usually begins on the date that it is published in the Belgian Official Journal. In Spain, a Royal order (Real orden in Spanish) was a legal document with the force of law issued by the Spanish sovereign. They were issued by sovereigns from Philip II in the 1550s to Alfonso XIII, who ruled from 1886 to 1931. With the advent of the Second Spanish R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coalition Government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election. A party not having majority is common under proportional representation, but not in nations with majoritarian electoral systems. There are different forms of coalition governments, minority coalitions and surplus majority coalition governments. A surplus majority coalition government controls more than the absolute majority of seats in parliament necessary to have a majority in the government, whereas minority coalition governments do not hold the majority of legislative seats. A coalition government may also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity, it can also play a ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Standaard
(, ) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ... Flemish daily '' De Morgen''. In recent years has renounced its original ideological ties. History and profile In 1911, Frans Van Cauwelaert founded ''Ons Volk Ontwaakt'', the weekly journal of the Flemish Catholic student organization. In 1914, Van Cauwelaert, Alfons Van de Perre, and Arnold Hendrix formed a publishing company, ''De Standaard N.V.'' ("The Standard, Incorporated": the Standard Group). Their goal was to publish a conservative, Roman Catholic Church, Catholic, Flemish da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Luc Dehaene
Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber", as well as "The Minesweeper", for his ability to negotiate political deadlocks. A member of the ''Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams'' (CD&V) party and its antecedents, Dehaene gained his first ministerial appointment in 1981. Dehaene later went on to lead a series of centre-left cabinets from 1992 to 1999. Dehaene's first government (1992–1995) included both Christian and Social Democrats and presided over the creation of a new constitution, effectively transforming Belgium into a federal state. His second government (1995–1999) coincided with a number of crises in Belgium, including the Dutroux scandal. The Dioxin Affair, occurring shortly before the 1999 election, led to a swing against the major parties, and Dehaene's government fell. Following hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert II Of Belgium
Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is a member of the Belgian royal family who reigned as King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 until his abdication on 21 July 2013. Albert II is the son of King Leopold III and the last living child of Queen Astrid, born a princess of Sweden. He is the younger brother of the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg and King Baudouin, whom he succeeded following Baudouin's death in 1993. He married Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria (now Queen Paola), with whom he had three children. Albert's eldest son, Philippe, is the current King of the Belgians. On 3 July 2013, King Albert II attended a midday session of the Belgian cabinet. He then announced that, on 21 July, Belgian National Day, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his son Philippe on 21 July 2013. In doing so, he was also the second Belgian monarch to abdicate, following his father, Leopold III, who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very diff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formateur
A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is especially important in the politics of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Israel and the Czech Republic. These countries have a parliamentary system, where the executive derives its mandate from majority support in the legislature. They also use proportional representation for elections to parliament, and have a multiparty system that makes it improbable for one party to win an outright majority. There may be several combinations of parties which might form a coalition. The formateur is traditionally appointed by the head of state but in the Netherlands that became the right of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the early 21st century. The formateur most often comes from the largest party in the future coalitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgian Senate
The Senate ( ; ; ) is one of the two chambers of the Bicameralism, bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament, Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, the Senate has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and 2014. The Belgian federal election, 2014, 2014 elections were the first without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is composed of members of community and regional parliaments and Co-option, co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between these federated entities. The Senate today plays a minor role in the federal legislative process. However, the Senate, together with the Chamber, has full competence for the Constitution and legi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgian Chamber Of Representatives
The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 of the Belgian Constitution fixes the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives at 150. There are 11 electoral districts, which correspond with the ten Provinces (five Dutch- and five French-speaking) and the Brussels-Capital Region. Prior to the sixth Belgian state reform, the province of Flemish Brabant was divided into two electoral districts: one for Leuven and the other, named Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), which encompassed both the 19 bilingual municipalities from the Brussels-Capital Region and the 35 Dutch-speaking municipalities of Halle-Vilvoorde in Flemish Brabant, including seven municipalities with linguistic facilities for French-speaking inhabitants. The seats are divided among the political parties using the D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitutional Convention (political Custom)
A convention, also known as a constitutional convention, is an codification (law), uncodified tradition that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from Constitution of the United Kingdom, British constitutional law, most government functions are guided by constitutional convention rather than by a formal written constitution. In these states, actual distribution of power may be markedly different from those the formal constitutional documents describe. In particular, the formal constitution often confers wide discretionary powers on the head of state that, in practice, are used only on the advice of the head of government, and in some cases not at all. Some constitutional conventions operate separately from or alongside written constitutions, such as in Canada since the country was formed with the enactment of the Constitution Act, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
