Former PM Yves Leterme steps out of politics

CD&V’s Yves Leterme, who twice served as prime minister of Belgium, has stepped down from politics, after presiding over a city council meeting on Monday in Ypres. Leterme is now based mainly in Sweden, and his duties make it impossible to continue a political career in Belgium, he said.

Leterme was minister-president of Flanders from 2004 to 2007 and was responsible for bringing Kris Peeters – then director of Unizo – into the government. Peeters would go on to replace Leterme as minister-president for two terms before taking up his current federal post.

Leterme, meanwhile, moved on to the federal stage earlier, becoming PM in 2008 for nine months, and taking up the post again in 2009 when the sitting PM Herman Van Rompuy took up the post of president of the European Council. Leterme resigned as PM after being accused of trying to influence the justice system in a case relating to the collapse of Fortis bank.

After the federal elections in 2010, and the record-breaking impasse that followed in which Belgium functioned without a federal government coalition for 18 months, Leterme was asked by the king to lead a caretaker government.

By the time he left office in late 2011, Leterme had been appointed deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which took him to Paris. The term ran for two years and was then renewed.

In the meantime, Leterme stood in Ypres in local elections and was returned as mayor, with Jan Durnez standing in for him in his absence. In 2014, he became secretary-general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm, which monitors elections and issues advice on drafting constitutions.

Photo: Laurie Dieffembacq/BELGA