Fanning the Flames of Speculation
Is Blair still in line for the presidency?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The decision is to be announced on Thursday. The fact that Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy made a highly publicised pro-federalist speech on EU taxation to the "secretive" Bilderberg group outside Brussels this week has stirred up excitement amongst the "plots and conspiracy-theories" wing of the eurosceptics, as his name has been increasingly mentioned in connection with the role. Belgians, however, who are somewhat relieved to have had a functioning government for some months now - an unusual state of affairs - are not so keen on losing their PM so soon after his appointment. It is also the case that the Belgian is virtually unheard of outside his home country.
Unlike Tony Blair, however, he is untouched by the kind of allegations that led to Israeli leader Ariel Sharon being summoned to a Belgian court in 2001, under a 1993 Belgian law which allows war crimes and genocide to be tried in Belgium, even if the events took place elsewhere, and even if none of the victims was Belgian. Blair's enthusiasm for war may yet be the undoing of his euro-ambitions.
Assuming that a typical Brussels carve-up is taking place, however, many are voicing the opinion that the big-hitters, Merkel, Sarkozy, et al, will have made their decision, and speculation about tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee is nothing more than window dressing, to create an illusion of democracy. Certainly the the electorate have not been consulted in any way, so a nod towards a democratic selection process might be wise at some stage.
