Wêrom België gjin regearing foarmje kin en gewoan trochgiet
July 2, 2026 · Frisian News
Belgium has been without a government for six months, yet the country functions normally. This raises a fundamental question: how essential is government really?
FryskBelgië hat no mear as seis moannen gjin regearing. De wichtichste politike partijen steane tsjinoer elkoar oer alles, fan belestingbelied oant pensioenherfoarming. Dochs ride treinen op tiid, wurkje skoallen, en bliuwe winkels iepen.
Dit is net nij. België stelde syn eigen rekôrd yn 2010-2011 mei 541 dagen sûnder in wurkjende regearing. Dêrfoar hie it it wrâldrekôrd yn hânnen. Alle kearen kamen foarsizzings fan ûnheil: de ekonomy soe ynstoarte, it soarchstelsel soe mislearje, it lân soe útinoar falle. Neat dêrfan barde. België rêde him derfantroch, lykas altyd. De echte fraach is net wêrom België gjin regearing foarmje kin, mar wêrom Belgen bliuwe dwaan as oft se der ien nedich hawwe.
De Flaamske separatistyske partij N-VA wûn de measte sitten by de ferkiezings fan 2024, mar wegeret gear te wurkjen mei Frânsktalige partijen út Walonië. De Sosjalisten, Greenen en Kristendemocraten wurde it net iens oer besunigings. Flaanderen fielt dat it Walonië finansiert. Walonië friest dat Flaanderen it ferlit. Dizze grieven binne echt, mar se foarkomme net dat bussen ride.
In demisjonêr kabinet, beset mei amtners en resten fan de foarige regearing, fiert it deistich bestjoer. Útjeften folgje de begrutting fan it foarige jier. Amtners stelle dringende beslissings út. De byrokrasy docht har wurk. Nimmen neamt dit in krisis, omdat it wurket.
Ut Belgjes jierrenlange ôfwêzigens fan regearing docht bliken wat de measte demokratyen wegere ta te jaan: in grut diel fan it regearingswurk is toaniel. Belestingamtners dogge har wurk. Plysje wurket. Skoallen jouwe les. Amtners betelje pensjoenen. De masine draait sûnder dat politisy moannen lang yn it parlemint oarenje. Dit is gjin tekoartkomming fan Belgje. It is in sterkte dy't blotleit hoefolle fan wat politisy dogge ûnnedich is. Belgjes ûnfermogen om in regearing te foarmjen is net in probleem om op te lossen. It is bewiis dat regearingen folle minder needsaaklik binne as ús ferteld is.
Belgium has been without a government for over six months. The country's main political parties remain deadlocked on everything from tax policy to pension reform. Yet trains run on time, schools operate, and shops stay open.
This is not new. Belgium set its own record in 2010-2011 by going 541 days without a functioning government. Before that, it held the world record. Each time, dire predictions came: the economy would collapse, the healthcare system would fail, the country would splinter. None of it happened. Belgium muddled through, as it always does. The real question is not why Belgium cannot form a government, but why Belgians keep pretending they need one.
The Flemish separatist party N-VA won the most seats in the 2024 election but refuses to govern with French-speaking parties from Wallonia. The Socialists, Greens, and Christian Democrats cannot agree on budget cuts. Flanders feels it subsidizes Wallonia. Wallonia fears Flanders will abandon it. These grievances are real, but they do not prevent buses from running.
A caretaker government, staffed by civil servants and holdovers from the last administration, manages day-to-day operations. Spending follows last year's budget. Officials delay urgent decisions. The bureaucracy does its job. No one calls this a crisis because it works.
Belgium's multi-year government vacancies reveal something most democracies refuse to admit: much of government is theater. Tax collectors do their work. Police work. Schools teach. Officials pay pensions. The machinery runs without politicians arguing in parliament for six months. This is not a flaw in Belgium. It is a feature that exposes how much of what politicians do is unnecessary. Belgium's inability to form a government is not a problem to solve. It is evidence that governments are far less essential than we have been told.
Published July 2, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân