Everyone works longer, except politicians
The Federal Chamber Speaker Siegfried Bracke (N-VA) had worked out a proposal on the account of the whole federal parliament, but a special meeting with the 7 heads of parliament in Belgium ended without an accord. This is despite every politician declaring in the press that he or she supports the idea of working until a later age, just like all other working Belgians.
The Flemish nationalists of N-VA blame the Francophone MP's for the failure. Peter De Roover told Het Nieuwsblad that "Francophone colleagues want to drag other things into the debate." They demand a ban on combining parliamentary work with other functions.
On the other side of the language divide, André Antoine (Christian democrat) is talking about "a coup staged by the N-VA".The north-south bickering may have ended in a stalemate for now, but the talks will be continued after the summer.
Six parliaments?
The six Belgian parliaments are those belonging to the 3 regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) and those belonging to the 3 language communities (Dutch, French and German). The latter are mainly concerned with things like culture, sports and language.