Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium
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Yves Leterme is a Belgian politician.
The transitional period came to an end on March 20, 2008, when Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister.
On his first day as formateur, Leterme met with outgoing Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (Open Vld), the new President of the Chamber of Representatives, Herman Van Rompuy (CDV), and the new President of the Senate, Armand De Decker (MR.
The following day, Tuesday July 17, Leterme received the presidents of the orange-blue parties: Jo Vandeurzen (CDV), Bart De Wever (N-VA), Didier Reynders (MR), Bart Somers (Open Vld) and Joëlle Milquet (Humanist Democratic Centre.
On Sunday August 19, the formateur Leterme was summoned by the King to discuss his consultations.
Also, 72% could not understand the French-speaking opposition, and 53% thought that Milquet was to blame for the crisis and 15% thought that Leterme was to blame.
Reynders:The government must go ahead with its social and economic programme.
Hey there! yvesleterme is using Twitter.
Despite his French name, Leterme is actually Flemish.
Leterme was born in the small city of Wervik in the province of West Flanders.
Yves Leterme took a pragmatic course of increasing the economic dynamic and social wellbeing in Flanders.
In the elections held on June 10, 2007, Leterme received 796,521 personal votes, leading his party to a landslide victory.
On March 23, Leterme received confidence of the chamber as Prime Minister.
A news report produced by the Belgian Francophone television company RTBF alleged that Leterme said in the Flemish parliament: "I don't need the King"1011.
According to Flemish newspapers, this sentence was taken out of context, because Leterme was talking about the creation of Flemish statutes (decrees): legislation approved by the Flemish parliament, unlike federal legislation, does not need the king's signature in order to become law.
Yves Leterme was the favourite to become the next Prime Minister of Belgium following the 2007 General Election.
Belgium's political uncertainty further deepened when Yves Leterme was hospitalised on 14 February 2008.
27 Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister on 20 March,28 and his government was approved by the Chamber of Representatives on 22 March, with 97 votes in favour, 48 against, and one abstaining.
On July 15, 2008, King Albert II issued a communiqué that Leterme had offered his resignation to the king, and that the king was reserving his decision on whether to accept the resignation.
Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme took over as Belgian prime minister on Thursday, ending nine months of deadlock that had prompted speculation the country could break apart.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme took over as Belgian prime minister on Thursday, ending nine months of deadlock that had prompted speculation the country could break apart.
Leterme had already been formateur until August 23rd, but he was unable to forge an agreement between parties from Flanders, Belgium’s Dutch-speaking north, and Wallonia, the country’s French-speaking south.
Leterme is currently under tremendous pressure to succeed in his task.
Leterme is currently aiming to form a government with the Walloons by offering to postpone the debate about welfare reform and the BHV question until after the 2009 regional elections.
Yves Leterme is sworn in as prime minister of Belgium, March 20, 2008.
If Leterme was looking for plaudits from the Flemish, his own constituents, he looked in vain.
var cnnShareDesc = encodeURIComponent("Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme has offered his government's resignation amid a row over the break-up of the stricken Fortis bank, according to national media reports.
CNN) -- Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme has offered his government's resignation amid a row over the break-up of the stricken Fortis bank, according to national media reports.
Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme has offered his government's resignation, according to reports.
Belgian newspapers and state television reported that Leterme was tendering the government's resignation to the king.
Leterme was said to be in favour of this plan, but his party opposed it.
Leterme took over from Guy Verhofstadt in March after nine months of deadlock but his fragile government faces a mid-July deadline to carry out a major reform of the state that Flemish parties demand and French speakers resist.
Leterme has been in power only for nine months as leader of a fragile, five-party coalition meant to ease a dispute between Belgium's linguistic groups that had reignited speculation the 178-year-old country could break up.
Leterme denied accusations he had sought to influence an appeal court which last week upheld a challenge by shareholders to a state-led carve-up of the bank, but acknowledged that the Supreme Court's findings made his position untenable.
A year ago, the king brought back former premier Guy Verhofstadt to head a caretaker government after Leterme had failed to form a coalition following June elections.
Leterme came to power in March after nine months of deadlock over the extent that powers should be devolved to Belgium's regions -- a key demand for Dutch-speaking Flemish parties.
OutlookLeterme is banking on a constitutional stipulation to remain in power, and this risky move will either strengthen his grip on power temporarily or remove him from the picture for good.
This is the third time in 11 months that Leterme has thrown in the towel, twice as leader of the negotiations to form a new government after the June 2007 election (23 August 2007 and 1 December 2007) and now as prime minister just four months into his term.
However, this only revealed the weak grip Leterme had on the issue.
The final straw for the consensus-seeking Leterme was a decision by the Constitutional Court regarding eligibility for housing in Flanders (see Belgium: 14 July 2008: Belgian Constitutional Court Rules Only Dutch Speakers Eligible for Housing in Flanders.
The root of the problem for Leterme has been an election promise that was attractive to Flemish voters but hard to accept for the Wallonian electorate: greater devolution.
Outlook and ImplicationsOnce again, Leterme has opted for an exit strategy as the going has got tough.
Leterme knows all too well that he is not popular with the runner-up MR-FDF, led by Vice-Deputy and Finance Minister Didier Reynders, which received almost 6% fewer votes than the CDV at the June 2007 general election.
However, Leterme is banking on a stipulation in the constitution that states that the leader of the federal government must be Flemish, as the population of Belgium is 60% Flemish, while 40% are Wallonian.
slide_images_caption="Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme is seen in his office in Brussels, in this May 14, 2007 file photo.
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme is seen in his office in Brussels, in this May 14, 2007 file photo.
Leterme had found agreement on the budget and social and economic plans, but repeatedly failed to break the stalemate over devolution and the thorny issue of the electoral boundaries around Brussels.
Belgian prime minister resignsJul 15 - Seeded by Red WolfSource: Australian Broadcasting CorporationBelgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has tendered his resignation after failing to push through measures to devolve more power to the regions.
world-news, belgium, yves-leterme, king-albert30 Realities of the Belgian SituationOct 1 - Seeded by Daniel BickettSource: Radio Netherlands WorldwideThe political crisis, which has been gripping Belgium for months, is entering a new phase now that the Christian Democrat Yves Leterme has been charged with forming a new government.
Mr Leterme said yesterday that he wanted no role in the new government but he vowed to prove his innocence in the banking scandal.
institutional reforms aimed at giving more autonomy to Belgium's increasingly estranged constituent provinces, French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders.
But Sinardet said Leterme was wrong to blame the system, as his own Conservative party, the CD, had refused to compromise on reforms.
Yves Leterme was coerced to become prime minister for one reason.
King Albert II of Belgium named a former premier to begin consultations on forming a new government after Prime Minister Yves Leterme was toppled by the financial crisis.
While he needs some Francophones to achieve the two-thirds majority indispensable for any potential Constitutional reform, Yves Leterme has done nothing to cajole them.
BRUSSELS, Dec 31 (UPI) -- Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy has been sworn in as Belgium's new prime minister, heading a five-party coalition government, officials said.
BRUSSELS, July 25 (UPI) -- Belgian politician Yves Leterme is now an Internet sensation after video of him singing the wrong national anthem has received 225,000 hits on YouTube.