I was just watching this interview with Frank Vandenbroucke where he mentions that they had to change the kabinet of Kitir because of 1/ the people that work at the kabinet couldn’t bare it and 2/ to keep Kitir herself sane

It’s baffling that not a second Frank thinks that ministers should change because they can’t deliver value to the people. That should be the one reason to change, if you can’t properly function. It’s not even a criteria!

They just select random people qualified or not, elected or not, to fill positions they hand out like candy. No accountability whatsoever.

Not sure about what you think, but I’ve honestly no idea who to vote for in the next elections. They are all equally incompetent & f*cking us all, and future generations, over with more taxes, not even batting an eye with a miljard more or less in the begroting.

[https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022/12/19/vandenbroucke-vs-gennez/](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022/12/19/vandenbroucke-vs-gennez/)

11 comments

  1. I wonder if its the system or the politics/politicians themselves?
    If its the politics than I guess voting for a radical party might bring an interesting term and shake/wake up the current majority parties.

    If its the system itself than no matter who is in charge it will stay the same.

    Im only 28 so no idea if it was ever different but i do wish politicians were more accountable. Making a mistake or stupid decision should cost you your job.

  2. Politicians have to care about the people AND corporations.

    Sadly, the people bring way less money to the table and cost more. Where corporations can play with big numbers and get even more with the right laws. They also reward the people allowing them to prosper.

    They don’t bribe the politicians of course. They either give them insider trading or give them a seat on the board later on 🙂

  4. I will probably vote for a smaller party like Pirate Party as a way to protest without having to vote for VB/PVDA-PTB.

  5. What a fucking joke this thread is.

    Politicians all across Europe didn’t spend billions on subsidizing oil and gas in the past year just because they loooooove Putin and Saudi Arabia.

    They did it to help citizens who were struggling financially.

    And you claim they don’t care? Give me a fucking break. We’re actively subsidizing fossil fuels during rapid climate change because that’s what the people want and you claim they don’t care about the people.

  6. I never understood how a minister of environment could become minister of defense the next term. In some countries you vote for a person per function which makes more sense imo

  7. Politicians are usually skilled at getting people to vote for them. Which has become more and more important in the last decade, as people’s attention span has shriveled away. Most politicians are not skilled on actually managing their department. Doesn’t even make sense that someone can be doing justice one year, and defense the next year…

    The only remaining qualified politicians are the ones that get dropped in there by their party, without being on a list. People like Vandenbroucke and Geens come to mind. Even if you don’t like their policies, they are very competent at what they do, and know their field. There used to be a time were that was enough. And people would vote for such politicians because they were capable. Plenty of people didn’t like Dehane as a person or his policies, but he was good at his job, which got him re-elected.

    Now people vote for the flavour of the day, and competent politicians get scorned for being “undemocratic”.

  8. Really weird take. Of course the consequence of a dysfunctional cabinet and minister is worse policy. I don’t quite understand why you would disconnect the two and start ranting about “not being elected”, we don’t elect ministers in Belgium.
    In the end a cabinet is like a division of an enterprise or ngo and needs to be run with the well being of people working there in mind, what is wrong with that?

  9. I promised myself not to respond to these sorts of posts anymore but here I go again.

    Politicians are people. There is no “politician vs the people” here. They are one and the same and it’s the people who decide who the politicians are. And the people are doing a really bad job at it because they vote based on popularity, not results.

    So, a politician who does a good job but doesn’t get enough votes, fails. A politician who does a bad job but does get enough votes, succeeds. As a result, the only people who manage to make it in politics are the ones who consistently get a high number of votes.

    Quite a lot of politicians have never lead a team. Not in politics, not outside of it. And most of them aren’t experts. At best they are opinionated and informed. The politician who gets the most votes and is incredibly popular, doesn’t necessarily have the skills to get anything done. It is rare for a politician to get popular and be highly qualified. Because being qualified usually doesn’t help them get elected, sometimes it can even harm them. Most of the populist movements are openly anti-intellectual and loudly proclaim that “the people are tired of experts”.

    The only reason the system has continued to work is because parties appoint ministers and give them qualified people to support them. That is what the chief of staff of a cabinet typically does. But all too often ministers are not humble enough to realize this and they push out or ignore the ones with the actual knowledge. Because we are at peak populism and even failing as a minister or party chairman or member of parliament will not ruin their career.

    Do you want accountability? Well, that is your job. Don’t know who to vote for? Do the research and check who actually did a good job. They are out there but they won’t continue to be. Many politicians drop out once they realise it’s all a popularity contest.

    In a democracy, you have the leaders you deserve.

Leave a Reply