The incident proved traumatic to both De Clerck and CD&V. Never before had a party been so openly destabilised from the outside. Some – especially within Open VLD – even believed this would mean the end of the Christian Democrats as a major factor in Flemish politics. It wasn’t: with both the prime minister and the Flemish minister-president as Christian Democrats, CD&V is now firmly back in the lead. But some of its prominent members still shudder when they think back to this episode.

And now there is that email. Last week a private exchange of messages between socialist SP.A party president Caroline Gennez and some of her intimates became public. Someone had apparently stolen the printouts from her desk; next thing she knew, they were published in De Standaard. In the email, a personal friend advised Gennez on how she should break the news to some of the hopefuls who were to become new Flemish ministers.

The mail raises some questions. First of all, who is this friend – a complete unknown to most of Gennez’s fellow socialists? Moreover, it shows the ugly backside of politics, saying, for example, that Bert Anciaux, who was left empty handed after the June election, should be compensated by becoming alderman in the city of Brussels. It also speaks of fellow party members in quite derogatory terms and touches on the sensitive issue of Frank Vandenbroucke, who Gennez ignored when it came to ministerial posts.

This situation has awakened old demons and unresolved issues in a party that is at its lowest ebb in decades. Nothing in the mail is all that new to Belgian politics, but the insulting language and wheeling-and-dealing are rarely exposed so publicly.

Eight years ago, Stefaan De Cerck suffered badly from that phone call. He survived, though, and is now justice minister. But he will never be remembered as a strong party leader.