Crisis in Belgium
It was one of the happiest features of the Belgian constitutional monarchy in the past that it was able, like our own, to keep above party politics, and so represent national unity. It is a legacy of the bitter days of 1940, and yet another sign of the disruptive effects of prolonged German occupation, that King Leopold now finds his own position an issue of acute controversy between Right and Left. The King's A.D.C., Viscount du Parc, has declared that " there is no question of His Majesty's abdicating," and the Right-wing parliamentarians have passed a resolution assuring the King of their loyalty. On the other hand, the parliamentary Socialist Party, including the late Prime Minister, M. van Acker, and the late Foreign Minister, M. Spaak, have declared that " only the King's abdication can avoid serious disturbances," and the Liberal Party holds the same view. If this division of opinion were to continue, it might threaten not only the future of the monarchy but the future of parliamentary institutions as well ; for, as French ex- perience shows, parliamentary democracy cannot work well once the form of the regime itself becomes a leading issue of party politics. Belgium's politics have always operated on a subtle system of balance and compromise, necessitated partly by her internal social and linguistic divisions, and partly by her international position. The war has upset this balance, and a political crisis of this kind releases all the disruptive forces. The Walloon separatists are seizing their chance to demand independence, and the more extreme syndicalists have already begun strikes in the Charleroi collieries. M. van Acker resigned a week ago rather than remain responsible for order if the King decided, against his advice, to return. The seriousness of the crisis is that it has arisen before free national elections can be held, for it is doubtful whether elections now would escape disorders and violence. It can only be solved by a provisional compromise arrangement in which the present Regent, Prince Charles, may play an important part ; and in which Belgium's allies must preserve their present correct impartiality.
