Flemish politics, too, gets wound up by “what ifs”: hypothetical scenarios that everyone talks about but may never happen. The most recent is: What if there were federal elections this year?

The federal vote is planned for 2014, in what is called “the mother of all elections”, with federal, regional and European elections all happening at once. But what if ?

Federal elections this year would upset N-VA’s calculations, as it hopes to play off Bart De Wever’s popularity in the concurring elections in 2014. CD&V, on the other hand, would stand to benefit, as minister-president Kris Peeters would have a clear field in the 2014 Flemish elections.

The fact that this rather unlikely scenario is being discussed demonstrates that the federal government is not in good shape. Di Rupo I is a government of necessity, born out of the political crisis after the 2010 electoral victory of N-VA. It has no majority on the Flemish side, while CD&V, Open VLD and the French-speaking liberals all feel uncomfortable about some of the more socialist recipes it proposes.

Over the last couple of months, the federal government has failed to reach a compromise on the singe statute for blue and white collar workers, has failed to make decisions on a number of high level appointments and has created confusion about new taxes on (the already meagre) interest from savings.

All of this runs counter to prime minister Di Rupo’s mantra of the government working hard, as it should in 2013, since this is one of the rare years in which Belgian politics is not troubled by some or other election. On to another “what if ”. What if King Albert were to abdicate? The pope did, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands did. A Belgian king has never abdicated of his own free will before, but there is a first time for everything.

According to rumours, the king is considering this scenario, but he does want to make sure that his successor, Prince Filip, is not faced with a political crisis from the very start.

This year seemed like the perfect moment: a year without elections. Or is it?