Bart De Wever sworn in as Belgium’s New Prime Minister
Appointment
4 min read
Conservative political leader Bart De Wever was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belgium by King Phillippe on 3rd February 2025 in a ceremony at the royal palace in Brussels.
Bart De Wever takes over as the Prime Minister from Alexander De Croo, whose seven-party coalition took 493 days to form a government in 2019-20.
De Croo had stayed on as caretaker leader after the June 2024 elections.
The government was formed in Belgium after the Parliamentary election in June 2024 and failed to give a decisive mandate to any political party or coalition of parties.
Belgium has a complicated political system, and the country is divided into Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Walloon communities.
In 2010-11 it took political parties 541 days to agree to form a government after the parliamentary election failed to give a decisive majority to a political party or a coalition.
First nationalist Flanders Leader to become PM of Belgium
54-year-old Bart De Wever, who once advocated an independent country of Dutch-speaking Flander people became the first Flander nationalist to be sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belgium.
Bart De Wever leads a five-party coalition government that includes his party NV-A, which emerged as the single largest party in the June 2024 parliamentary elections.
It took seven months of negotiation between these political parties to form a government.
The five-party coalition holds 81 seats in the 150-member Chamber of Representatives.
Parliament of Belgium
- The Belgian Parliament is a bicameral legislature with a 60-member Senate.
- The Senate is the Upper House of the Belgium Parliament.
- The Lower House of the Belgium Parliament is the House of Representatives which has 150 members.
- The members of the House of Representatives are directly elected by the people for a term of five years.
Position of Prime Minister in Belgium
- The post of Prime Minister was created in Belgium in 1919.
- Belgium is a Constitutional Monarchy where the King is the Head of the State while real executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister.
- The King appoints the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister is responsible to the Parliament.
- It means that the Prime Minister shall have a majority in the House of Representatives of the Belgium parliament.
About Belgium
Belgium is one of the smallest and most densely populated of Western Europe.
The country is divided into Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallon communities.
Belgium is a heavily industrialised country in Europe.
It is a member of the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Both the organisation's headquarters are in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium.
Capital: Brussels
Currency: Euro
Prime Minister: Bart De Wever
