After almost eight months of negotiations, Belgium has a new government. Bart De Wever of the conservative Flemish party N-VA will take office as prime minister on Monday and will lead a five-party coalition.
The new government, known as the Arizona coalition, is made up of conservative N-VA, Christian Democrat CD&V, liberal MR, social liberal Les Engagés and social democratic Vooruit. Together, the parties hold 82 of the 150 seats in parliament.
The outgoing Vivaldi government, which also included environmentalists, is now being replaced by a cross-bloc collaboration.
Bart De Wever, who founded the N-VA and has been mayor of Antwerp since 2013, has led the negotiations which, according to Le Soir, intensified in recent days. The formation of the government means that the liberal Open VLD, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, is not part of the new government.
It can also be noted that the nationalist party Vlaams Belang, which became the second largest party in the last elections, will be completely excluded from the new government.