Yves Leterme
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| Yves Leterme | |
 Photo credit: Kristof Persoons |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Bart Somers |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | 6 October 1960 Wervik, West Flanders, Belgium |
| Political party | CD&V |
| Spouse | Sofie Haesen |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Yves Leterme (October 6, 1960 in Wervik, Belgium) is the current Minister-President of Flanders, Belgium. At the same time, he also serves as Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Before entering national politics, Leterme served as an auditor at the Rekenhof. He then became adjunct and then national secretary of the CVP until he resigned to become a civil servant with the European Union. In 1997 he went on indefinite leave in that function when he was appointed Member of the Belgian Parliament. He is a member of the city council of Ieper since 1995. He served as alderman of Ieper from 1995 to 2001.
He was appointed to the Belgian House of Representatives in 1997, elected in 1999 and 2003. After the defeat of the CD&V in the general elections of 2003, he succeeded Stefaan De Clercq as party chairman. He served as chairman until he resigned after the regional elections of 2004 to become Flemish Prime Minister. In 2004 his party won the elections, thanks to success of the newly-formed election cartel with the smaller separatist party N-VA. Since 2004 he has headed the Flemish government, which consists of the three traditional Flemish parties (CD&V-N-VA, VLD, SP.A-Spirit). Leterme has faced some internal troubles and conflict in this grand coalition.
Yves Leterme is known for his formal, business-like style.[citation needed] This has made Leterme very popular with the voters. He is a centre-rightist conservative.
[edit] Controversial statements of Leterme for francophones
During an interview to the French newspaper Libération in August 2006, he declared about the French-speaking inhabitants of the municipalities with linguistic facilities in the Dutch speaking Flanders around Brussels: "But apparently, the francophones are either not willing or not in an intellectual state for learning Dutch, therefore the prolongation of this exceptional status".[1] According to him, the only common things to Belgians are "The King, the football team, some beers...". Most prominent francophone politicians such as Elio Di Rupo [2] and Isabelle Durant and some Flemish politicians such as Pascal Smet and Guy Vanhengel [3] found these comments insulting for the francophones in the Flemish region around Brussels.
A reportage produced by the Belgian francophone television company RTBF for the Questions broadcasting reports that Leterme would have said in the Flemish parliament: "I don't need the King" [4]. According to Flemish newspapers, this sentence was used out of context, because Leterme was talking about the creation of Flemish laws: he does not need the king to sign the voted laws, as is the case for Belgian federal laws, but not for Flemish laws. The Flemish Minister-President signs law himself [5].
[edit] References
- ^ (French) "Propos polémiques de Leterme" in La Libre Belgique, August 17, 2006, [1], online version retrieved on August 24, 2006.
- ^ (French) "Leterme se lâche" in Libération, [2]
- ^ (French) "Bruxellois flamands pas d'accord" in La Libre Belgique, August 18, 2006 [3]
- ^ (French) "Leterme : “Pas besoin du Roi”" in La Dernière Heure", August 23 , 2006, [4]
- ^ (Dutch) "Citaat Leterme over koning uit context gehaald" in Het Laatste Nieuws, [5]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Bart Somers |
Minister-President of Flanders 20 July 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
