Yves Leterme
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6th Minister-President of Flanders
In office 20 July 2004 – 28 June 2007
Preceded by	Bart Somers
Succeeded by	Kris Peeters
Born	6 October 1960 (1960-10-06) (age 46) Wervik, West Flanders, Belgium
Political party	CD&V
Spouse	Sofie Haesen
Religion	Roman Catholic

Yves Camille Désiré Leterme (born October 6, 1960 in Wervik, Belgium) is a Belgian Senator, a former Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. This is a list of Minister-Presidents (prime ministers) of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Bart Somers (born 12 May 1964 in Mechelen) is a Belgian, Flemish politician. ... Kris Peeters (May 18, 1962) is a Flemish politician and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party who is currently serving as Flemish Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wervik is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. ... West Flanders (Dutch: West-Vlaanderen) is the westernmost province of Flanders and of Belgium. ... Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) (Christian Democratic and Flemish) is a political party in Belgium, formerly called Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP) (Christian Peoples Party). ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wervik is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. ... The Belgian Senate (Dutch: de Senaat, French: le Sénat) is one of the two chambers of the Belgian Federal Parliament. ...

Yves Leterme was the favourite to become the next prime minister of Belgium following the 2007 Belgian General Election.^[1] He tendered his resignation as Flemish Minister-President on June 26, 2007, and has been succeeded in that position by Kris Peeters.^[2] Since July 16, 2007 Leterme has been leading the formal coalition talks into forming a new government.^[3] This is a list of Prime Ministers of Belgium, known regionally as: Premier Ministre in French, Eerste Minister in Dutch, and Premierminister in German. ... The next Belgian general election is scheduled to take place on Sunday June 24, 2007. ... Kris Peeters (May 18, 1962) is a Flemish politician and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party who is currently serving as Flemish Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature. ...

Career

Before entering national politics, Leterme served as an auditor at the Belgian Court of Audit (Dutch: Rekenhof, French: Cour des Comptes). 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 from that position when he was appointed Member of the Belgian Parliament. He has been a member of the city council of Ieper since 1995. He served as alderman of Ieper from 1995 to 2001. Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) (Christian Democratic and Flemish) is a political party in Belgium, formerly called Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP) (Christian Peoples Party). ... Geography Country Belgium Community Flemish Community Region Flemish Region Province West Flanders Arrondissement Ypres Coordinates , , Area 130. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions. ...

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 Clerck 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 coalition with the smaller separatist party New-Flemish Alliance (N-VA). Since 2004 he has headed the Flemish government, which consists of the three traditional Flemish parties (CD&V-N-VA, Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), SP.A-Spirit). The Belgian Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: de Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers, French: la Chambre des Représentants) is one of the two chambers of the Belgian Federal Parliament. ... Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) (Christian Democratic and Flemish) is a political party in Belgium, formerly called Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP) (Christian Peoples Party). ... The May 18, 2003 Belgian general elections were the first Belgian elections to be held under a new electoral code. ... Stefaan De Clerck is Flemish politician. ... On June 13, 2004, regional elections were held in Belgium, to choose representatives in the regional councils of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels, as well as in the German Community Council. ... The Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (New-Flemish Alliance) is a Belgian political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. ... The Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten or VLD (Flemish Liberals and Democrats) is a Flemish liberal party, created in 1992 from the former PVV and a few other politicians from other parties. ... The SP.A-Spirit is a political cartel between the parties SP.A and Spirit ...

Controversies

During an interview with the French newspaper Libération in August 2006, Leterme, who is himself bilingual and son of a Walloon father^[4], declared regarding the reluctance of French-speaking inhabitants of the municipalities with language facilities in Flanders around Brussels to learn to speak Dutch: Libération (affectionately known as Libé) is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre, Pierre Victor alias Benny Lévy and Serge July in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Flanders (disambiguation). ...

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 ^[7] and Isabelle Durant and some Flemish politicians such as Pascal Smet and Guy Vanhengel ^[8] found these comments insulting for the Francophones in the Flemish region around Brussels. Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo (b. ... Isabelle Durant (born September, 4 1954) is a Belgian politician, member of the Ecolo party. ... Pascal Smet (b. ...

A news report produced by the Belgian Francophone television company RTBF for the Questions broadcasting reports that Leterme said in the Flemish parliament: "I don't need the King" ^{[9] [10]}. 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 Belgian legislation, does not need the king's signature in order to become law. The Flemish Minister-President signs the decrees himself. ^[11] RTBF official logo RTBF or Radio télévision belge de la communauté française is the national broadcasting organisation of the government of the French-speaking southern part of Belgium, the counterpart to the Dutch-speaking VRT in the northern part of the country. ...

Upon being questioned by a television journalist about the reason for celebrating the Belgian independence day on July 21, Yves Leterme answered that it was the day the constitution was proclaimed (which is wrong, because it is the day the first King, Leopold I, got sworn in). Subsequently, he was asked if he knew the French lyrics to the Belgian national anthem, the Brabançonne, and he began to sing la Marseillaise, the French national anthem.^[12] Lithographie of Jenneval Lithographie of Campenhout The Brabançonne (Song of Brabant) is the national anthem of Belgium. ... This article is about the anthem La Marseillaise. A sculpture popularly called La Marseillaise is part of the sculptural program of the Arc de Triomphe. ...

2007 general elections

On May 6, 2007 he officially launched his candidacy for the general election on June 10, 2007, leading the list of candidates of his party. ^[13] On election day, he received about 800,000 preferential votes, which is the second largest number of votes ever gained in the history of Belgian elections. is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Yves Leterme was the favourite to become the next prime minister of Belgium following the 2007 Belgian General Election.^[1] From July 16, 2007, up to August 23, 2007 Leterme lead the formal coalition talks into forming a new government. On August 23 he resigned as formateur after negotiations failed over constitutional reform.^[14] This is a list of Prime Ministers of Belgium, known regionally as: Premier Ministre in French, Eerste Minister in Dutch, and Premierminister in German. ... The next Belgian general election is scheduled to take place on Sunday June 24, 2007. ... The 2007 Belgian government formation followed on the Belgian general election of 10 June 2007 and consists of a period of negotiations in which the Flemish parties Open VLD, CD&V and N-VA and the French-speaking parties MR and CDH try to form a government coalition. ...

On September 29, explorer Herman Van Rompuy presented his final report to the King. Afterwards, the Royal Palace announced that the King relieved him of his exploratory mission. Later that day, King Albert II again appointed Yves Leterme as formateur.^[15] is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Herman Van Rompuy (born October 31, 1947 in Etterbeek) is a Flemish politician and member of the CD&V (formerly called CVP). ... Formateur is the term, notably in Dutch and French, for the politician who is appointed by the Head of State to lead the formation of a government, which is not a mere formality in countries without a de facto two party-system, as proportional representation often means no single party...

References

Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pron. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Libération (affectionately known as Libé) is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre, Pierre Victor alias Benny Lévy and Serge July in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... La Libre Belgique (English: Free Belgium) is a Belgian newspaper in French. ... La Dernière Heure (which means: the latest hour) and Les Sports (sometimes referred to as La DH) is a French general daily newspaper in Belgium. ... Het Laatste Nieuws is a Flemish language newspaper based in Brussels. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• (Dutch) Personal web site