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To: Don Pueblo who wrote (28887)	6/14/1999 11:16:00 AM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 71178

OT, Politics, eh: "Belgium's Dehaene Quits on Poll Loss, Chicken Scare Brussels, June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Belgian Prime Minister Jean- Luc Dehaene stepped down after the scandal over dioxin-tainted chicken helped send his party to a crushing election defeat yesterday. ''I take full responsibility for this setback,'' Dehaene, credited with steering Belgium into Europe's single currency during his seven years in power, said after presenting his resignation to King Albert II. ''It's time to do other things.'' All four parties in Dehaene's coalition suffered heavy losses as dissatisfied voters chose non-traditional parties. The Flemish Liberal Democrats, who favor economic deregulation and the sale of state assets, ousted Dehaene's Christian Democrats as Belgium's strongest party. Analysts said it is likely that the Liberals' leader, Guy Verhofstadt, will be tapped by the king to form a new government. Negotiations could drag on for weeks, leaving Belgium rudderless at a time when the European Union is demanding action on the poultry crisis. Verhofstadt said he is ready ''to take responsibility myself'' and will meet with the king later today, the Belga news service reported. With 96 percent of the votes counted, Dehaene's Christian Democrats slipped to 14.0 percent from 17.2 percent in the 1995 election. The Flemish Liberals garnered 14.2 percent of the vote, up from 13.2 percent. The food scare, dubbed ''chickengate'' by the media, erupted last month when the government reported high levels of cancer- causing dioxin in some chickens, the result of contaminated feed. Two ministers quit amid accusations of a cover-up, bringing to five the number forced out of the cabinet in little over a year. Political Fixer Dehaene, a political fixer who bypassed Parliament to enact the budget cuts that won Belgium a spot in the euro, appeared set for re-election until the chicken scandal broke out. It triggered worldwide import bans on Belgian food products, provoking global embarrassment for a country that prides itself on fine dining. ''He never got very high confidence ratings, but for economic results, the government wasn't so bad,'' said Xavier Servais, a fund manager at Damien Courtens & Cie. Lost production and exports of poultry, eggs, beef, pork and dairy products will clip 0.2 percent off Belgian gross domestic product this year, the Federation of Belgian Enterprises estimated. ''We cannot underestimate the degree of damage'' from the dioxin affair, Dehaene said. Warning of ''very significant'' economic damage, he said Belgium needs a new government quickly to contain the crisis. Dehaene's party had been Belgium's biggest since 1958. Dutch- speaking Flanders is Belgium's most populous region, with 6 million of the country's 10 million inhabitants. --James G. Neuger and Jennifer M. Freedman in the Brussels bureau (322) 285 4300, with reporting by Thomas Mulier.cc