Martens VIII government

The Belgian Martens VIII government was in office from May 9, 1988 to September 29, 1991. On May 15, 1988 she received the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies and on May 19, 1988 that of the Senate . It consisted of nineteen ministers (including prime ministers) and thirteen state secretaries.

This eighth of Wilfried Martens cited (CVP) Government was made up of Flemish and Francophone Christian Socialists ( CVP and PSC ) and the Socialists ( SP and PS ) and the Flemish -nationalist Volksunie together (VU). The Martens VIII government was the successor to the short-lived Martens VII government , which was composed of Christian Socials and Liberals. In the early elections on December 13, 1987, triggered by the government crisis surrounding the municipality of Voeren and the person of José Happart (PS), both the Flemish Christian Socials and the French-speaking liberals lost votes, while the Socialists became the strongest political party Family, so that a continuation of the outgoing government was no longer possible. The new government, in which especially Jean-Luc Dehaene (CVP), the Gros made work (at that time the saying was "Sire, give me a hundred days," the Dehaene at the King addressed), was extremely long and tough, because it presupposed a solution to the Voeren problem and the basic principles of a new state reform.

During its tenure, the Martens VIII government made profound personnel changes several times. The following politicians left the government for other functions: Herman Van Rompuy (party chairman of the CVP), Norbert De Batselier and Luc Van den Bossche (Flemish government), Paula D'Hondt (Royal Commissioner for Immigration Policy ), Michel Hansenne ( International Labor Organization ) , Leo Tindemans ( European Parliament ) and Alain Van der Biest (Walloon Government). Pierre Chevalier resigned because of problems with the judiciary. Above all, however, the third state reform, in which some responsibilities were ceded to the member states and the Brussels-Capital region was christened, resulted in some staff changes and redistribution of offices.

The Martens VIII government came to an end when VU refused to allow arms to be exported from the Walloon region to Saudi Arabia . The Prime Minister then replaced the VU ministers in his government and formed the Martens IX government alone with Christian Socialists and Socialists . Without the VU, the government still had an absolute majority in parliament, but not a two-thirds majority, which would have been necessary for further state reforms.

composition

minister	Surname	Political party
prime minister	Wilfried Martens	CVP
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Institutional Reforms, tasked with restructuring the national education system and the Ministry of the Brussels Region until July 11, 1989: Vice Prime Minister, Minister of the Brussels Region and for Institutional Reforms, tasked with restructuring the national education system until January 16, 1989: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Brussels Region and for Institutional Reforms	Philippe Moureaux	PS
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Economy, Planning and the Reorganization of the National Education System until January 16, 1989: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economy, Planning and for the National Education System	Willy Claes	SP
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Institutional Reform	Jean-Luc Dehaene	CVP
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and the Middle Class	Melchior Wathelet	PSC
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Budget and Science Policy	Hugo Schiltz	VU
Minister for Foreign Affairs	Mark Eyskens until June 19, 1989: Leo Tindemans	CVP CVP
Minister of Finance	Philippe Maystadt	PSC
Minister for Foreign Trade	Robert Urbain	PS
Minister of Public Service	Raymond Langendries to March 2, 1989: Michel Hansenne	PSC PSC
Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone	Marcel Colla until January 16, 1989: Freddy Willockx	SP SP
Minister for Social Affairs	Philippe Busquin	PS
Minister for National Defense	Guy Coëme	PS
Minister for Public Works dissolved on January 16, 1989	- until January 16, 1989: Paula D'Hondt	- CVP
Minister of Internal Affairs, Civil Service Modernization and National Cultural and Scientific Institutions	Louis Tobback	SP
Minister for National Education Office dissolved on January 16, 1989	- until January 16, 1989: Yvan Ylieff	- PS
Minister for Development Cooperation	André Geens	VU
Minister for Pensions	Gilbert Mottard to May 2, 1990: Alain Van der Biest	PS PS
Minister for Employment and Labor	Luc Van den Brande	CVP
State Secretaries	Surname	Political party
State Secretary for Energy	Élie Deworme	PS
State Secretary for the Middle Class and War Victims	Pierre Mainil	PSC
State Secretary for European Affairs and Agriculture	Paul De Keersmaeker	CVP
State Secretary for the Brussels Region Office dissolved on July 11, 1989	- until July 11, 1989: Jean-Louis Thys	- PSC
State Secretary for the Environment, Social Emancipation	Rent Smet	CVP
State Secretary for Europe 1992	Anne-Marie Lizin	PS
State Secretary for the Brussels Region Office dissolved on July 11, 1989	- until July 11, 1989: Jef Valkeniers	- VU
State Secretary for Public Health and Disability Policy	Roger Delizée	PS
State Secretary for Pensions	Leona Detiège	SP
State Secretary for Science Policy	Erik Derycke to January 18, 1990: Pierre Chevalier to January 16, 1989: Marcel Colla	SP SP SP
State Secretary for National Education Office dissolved on January 16, 1989	- until January 16, 1989: Pierre Chevalier until October 18, 1988: Luc Van den Bossche	- SP SP
State Secretary for Finance until September 18, 1988: State Secretary for Finance and SMEs	Wivina Demeester until September 18, 1988: Herman Van Rompuy	CVP CVP
State Secretary for Institutional Reforms, SMEs and the Restructuring of Public Works until January 16, 1989: State Secretary for Institutional Reforms and SMEs until October 18, 1988: State Secretary for Institutional Reforms	Jos Dupré until October 18, 1988: Norbert De Batselier	CVP SP

Web links

Premier.be - Official website of the Belgian Prime Minister (multilingual)