Ottoman Diplomats

Synopsis

Etienne Carathéodory Effendi describes the Belgian elections of June 10th as a disaster for the Liberal Party. The Catholics triumphed, as they now formed a clear majority that was unseen in Belgium until then: 54 seats moved from the liberals to the Catholics. Consequently, the dismissal of the liberal Frère-Orban government was a mere formality. The King charged Jules Malou, leader of the right (the Catholics), with forming a new government. According to Carathéodory, the most delicate point of the negotiations would be the dissolution of the Senate, still consisting of a small liberal majority. Carathéodory remarks that the Frère-Orban government fell prey to its antireligious policy, its new taxes, its internal scission, and above all to its forced alliance with the radical-socialists of the deputation of Brussels (implying the progressive-liberals and their leader Paul Janson). To these extremes, the Belgian citizens wanted to oppose a more wise and moderate policy, which they left in the care of the Catholics. Carathéodory reassures that the Catholics were like their opponents also attached to the constitutional liberties. According to him, the presence of Malou in the new government, was a guarantee for moderation. A policy of reprisal would lead the new government to the same fate as the previous government.

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