Misplaced Pages

#881118

34-669: The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme ( CD&V ) was sworn in as Prime Minister . It followed the Van Rompuy ;I Government which ended when Herman Van Rompuy became the first President of the European Council . It comprised five parties:

68-479: A debate on the declaration of government. Following this debate, a vote of Confidence takes place. If the prime minister obtains the confidence of the majority, he can begin implementing the government agreement. Catholics and later Christian Democrats have led most of the governments in Belgian history. However, from 1999 until 2007, liberal Guy Verhofstadt led two "purple" governments of liberals and socialists,

102-561: A minister is referred to as his or her "portfolio". In the United Kingdom , all government organisations that consist of civil servants, and which may or may not be headed by a government minister or secretary of state , are considered to be departments . Until 2018, the term "ministry" had been retained only for the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice . On 8 January 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that

136-443: A minister, and the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the act. Thus, in practice, the ministers do the actual day-to-day work of governing. At the federal level, executive power is wielded by the federal government, whilst the prime minister is the head of the government . Each minister heads a ministry, and secretaries of state, who are deputy to a minister, help run these ministries. The government reflects

170-527: A ministerial office and hence the minister, is referred to as the minister's "portfolio". New Zealand 's state agencies include many ministries and a smaller number of departments. Increasingly, state agencies are styled neither as ministries nor as departments. All New Zealand agencies are under the direction of one or more ministers or associate ministers, whether they are styled ministries or not. Each body also has an apolitical chief executive, and in ministries and departments these chief executives often have

204-420: A ministry, usually led by a government member called a secretary of state who is subordinate to the minister. In Australia at the federal level, and also at the state level, the term ministry refers to the ministerial office held by a member of Cabinet , the executive, which is then responsible for one or more departments , the top division of the public service. The collection of departments responsible to

238-470: A more flexible organization. Although the term "ministry" has been eliminated from the Government communication and from most of the new published laws, it continues to be used in some legislation, especially those referring to some government areas that existed for a long time as ministries ( Finance , National Defense , Foreign Affairs , Health , etc.). The term "ministry" also continues to be used as

272-571: A new State Reform. The Formateur is appointed by the king on the basis of the informateur's report. The task of the Formateur is to form a new government coalition and lead the negotiations about the government agreement and the composition of the government. If these negotiations succeed, the Formateur presents a new Federal Government to the king. Usually, the Formateur also becomes the Prime Minister . In accordance with article 96 of

306-447: A political portfolio . Governments may have differing numbers and types of ministries and departments. In some countries, these terms may be used with specific meanings: for example, an office may be a subdivision of a department or ministry. The federal Government of Canada uses the term department to refer to its first-level executive bodies. In Canada , first-level subdivisions are known as provinces and territories . Five of

340-412: Is also the voice of the federal government within their political party. Government meetings are conducted through simultaneous interpreters. The prime minister and his ministers administer the government and the various Federal Public Services (Dutch: Federale Overheidsdienst , French: Service public fédéral ); roughly equivalent to ministries in other countries' administrative organization. As in

374-483: The Belgian Constitution , the king appoints and dismisses his ministers. However, since all royal acts require the countersignature of a minister, the outgoing prime minister countersigns the royal order appointing the new prime minister, who then countersigns the royal order accepting the resignation of his predecessor. The prime minister then countersigns the royal orders appointing the other members of

SECTION 10

#1732783276882

408-489: The United Kingdom , ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Chamber. An important de facto body is the "inner cabinet" ( kernkabinet ; conseil des ministres restreint or kern ), consisting of the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers. They meet to make the most important political decisions. After the elections, the prime minister of the former government offers his resignation to

442-479: The machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration . These types of organizations are usually led by a politician who is a member of a cabinet —a body of high-ranking government officials—who may use a title such as minister , secretary , or commissioner, and are typically staffed with members of a non-political civil service , who manage its operations; they may also oversee other government agencies and organizations as part of

476-485: The Constitution. Although the prime minister is officially exempt from this quota, no francophones held the post from 1979 to 2011. Some of the ministers are also deputy prime ministers; but in addition to taking the position of acting prime minister, they are also the link between the government and their political parties. A deputy prime minister is the voice of their political party within the federal government, and

510-613: The Department of Communities and Local Government would be renamed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to emphasise her government's prioritising of housing policy. In September 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reverted the ministry to a department, renaming it the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and giving it the responsibility of overseeing his government's levelling up policy . It

544-962: The Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD), the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). The Leterme II Government originally comprised 15 ministers, seven secretaries of state , and a government commissary. On 14 February 2011, Charles Michel resigned as minister of Development Cooperation to become Chairman of

578-611: The Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party the N-VA remained the largest party in parliament. Belgium’s first female prime minister Sophie Wilmès led the caretaker government since October 2019. The parties finally agreed on federal government 16 months after

612-492: The King and advises him about the appointment of the Formateur. However the King can also appoint a second Informateur or appoint a royal mediator. The task of a royal mediator is to reach an agreement on contentious issues, resolve remaining obstacles to the formation of a Federal Government and prepare the ground for a Formateur . On 5 July 2007 King Albert II appointed Jean-Luc Dehaene as royal mediator to reach an agreement on

646-622: The Leterme II government became a caretaker government until it was succeeded by the Di Rupo I Government . Belgian federal government Formally, executive power is vested in the king , who formally appoints the ministers. However, under the Constitution of Belgium , the king is not politically responsible for exercising his powers, but must exercise it through the ministers. The king's acts are not valid unless countersigned by

680-592: The MR. He was replaced as minister in the Leterme II caretaker government by secretary of state for European Affairs Olivier Chastel, who became minister of Development Cooperation and European Affairs. Chastel was not replaced as secretary of state. From the start of the Leterme ;I Government , the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde caused problems between the coalition partners. The Constitutional Court of Belgium had judged in 2003 that

714-498: The Peninsular Malaysia states use committee , while Sabah and Sarawak state governments following the federal government's style in naming certain portfolios. In Hong Kong , the term bureau is used, and departments are subordinate to the bureaus. In Mexico , ministries are referred to as secretariats . In 1999, the ministries of the federal government of Belgium became known as federal public service ,

SECTION 20

#1732783276882

748-504: The election results. Following these meetings, an Informateur is appointed. The Informateur has the task of exploring the various possibilities for the new Federal Government and assessing which parties can form a majority in the Federal Parliament . He also meets with prominent people in the socio-economic field to learn their views on the policy that the new Federal Government should conduct. The Informateur then reports to

782-777: The elections and The Flemish Liberal party politician Alexander De Croo became new prime minister in October 2020. The current De Croo Government , a seven-party cabinet since October 2020, consists of 14 Ministers in a coalition of the Flemish Open Vld , sp.a , CD&V and Groen , and the Walloon Mouvement Réformateur , Parti Socialiste and Ecolo . Ministry (government department) Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat , office , or directorate ) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in

816-662: The exception being the Ministry of Defense which kept the original designation. In the Republic of China , ministry is used. In the People's Republic of China , ministry is used. In Portugal , the organization adopted by the XXI (2015–2019) and the XXII (2019-2024) governments ceased to expressly foresee the existence of ministries, with the portfolios of the ministers being instead referred as "government areas" and having, in theory,

850-655: The first francophone to hold the post of prime minister since Paul Vanden Boeynants left office in 1979. The formation of the Di Rupo Government ended the period of political instability between 2007 and 2011 . During the 2014 elections , there was political consensus to not repeat this, and the Michel Government was relatively quickly formed, notably excluding socialists and including the Flemish nationalist N-VA . In May 2019 federal elections in

884-467: The first of which also included greens. Afterwards, after difficult negotiations and an interim third Verhofstadt government, a government was eventually formed in 2008 led by Christian democrat Yves Leterme . New elections were called in 2010 after liberal Open Vld quit the government. After a record-breaking government formation , the Di Rupo Government was formed; Elio Di Rupo was

918-605: The king, and the formation process for a new government starts. The incumbent government remains in office in a caretaker role until the new government is sworn in. This process is based largely on constitutional convention rather than written law. The king is first consulted by the President of the Chamber of Representatives and the President of the Senate . The King also meets a number of prominent politicians in order to discuss

952-499: The new Federal Government. The appointed ministers take the oath of office before the king. After they have taken the oath, the new Council of Ministers meets to draw up the declaration of government, in which the Federal Government sets out the main lines of the government agreement and outlines the government agenda. The prime minister reads the declaration of government to the Chamber of Representatives, which then holds

986-512: The rules applying to the electoral district violated the non-discrimination principle. When no solution was found, the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats quit the coalition. Leterme offered his resignation to King Albert II of Belgium on 22 April 2010. On 26 April 2010, after a final round of consultations by Didier Reynders failed, the king accepted the resignation. New elections were held on 13 June 2010. As of 26 April 2010

1020-440: The ten provincial governments use the term ministry to describe their departments ( Ontario , Quebec , Saskatchewan , British Columbia , and Alberta ) but the other five, as well as the three territorial governments, use the term department . Despite the difference in nomenclature, both the provincial and federal governments use the term "minister" to describe the head of a ministry or department. The specific task assigned to

1054-463: The title of Secretary. In Indonesia , the term ministry ( Indonesian : Kementerian ) is used. From the New Order to 2009, the office was known as department ( Indonesian : Departemen ). In Malaysia , the term ministry is used for all but one government cabinet portfolio. The Prime Minister Department is the only portfolio that uses department instead. All government portfolios in

Leterme II Government - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-586: The vernacular to refer to a government area. In Nigeria each ministry is led by a minister who is not a member of the Nigerian legislature (due to the separation of powers) and is responsible to the popularly elected president . In Lebanon , there are 21 ministries. Each ministry is led by a minister, and the prime minister is the 23rd minister of the Lebanese government. In the European Union ,

1122-507: The weight of political parties that constitute the current governing coalition for the Chamber. No single party or party family across linguistic lines holds an absolute majority of seats in Parliament. Under current practice, no party family can win enough seats to govern alone, let alone win a majority. The number of ministers is limited to 15, equally divided between French-speaking and Dutch-speaking ministers, according to Article 99 of

1156-581: Was then subsequently reverted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government under the Starmer government in 2024. Some countries, such as Switzerland , the Philippines and the United States , do not use or no longer use the term "ministry" and instead call their main government bodies "departments". However, in other countries such as Luxembourg a department is a subdivision of

#881118