PIERLOT BROADENS BELGIAN CABINET

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 284, 30 November 1944, Page 6

PIERLOT BROADENS BELGIAN CABINET

SOCM/SfS REMAIN

Trade Unions Call 24-Hour

General Strike

N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 2.30 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 29.

The Prime Minister of Belgium, M. Pierlot, is broadening his Cabinet to secure greater suil|>ort among resistance movements and dissident Left Wing political groups, says Reuters correspondent in Brussels. To-day he discussed the proposed changes with M. Paul-Henri Spaak, Foreign Minister, and M. Larocq, who is a member of the executive committee of the Belgian Socialist party, also with men from a number of State Ministries. The meeting followed a reaffirmation by Socialist Ministers that they were remaining in the Government and a recommendation from the powerful executive committee of the Socialist party that the Government should be widened without delay. Regent Receives Ministers The Regent, Prince Charles, later received MM. Pierlot and Spaak, also with MM. Achille Vanacker, Minister of Labour, and Fernand Demete, Minister of Defence. It is authoritatively learned - that M. Pierlot will remain Prime Minister. The Allied Supreme Commander, General Eisenhower, through his representative in Belgium, General Grasset, to-day informed the Pierlot Government that the Allied Supreme Command hopes to supply food and industrial equipment as soon as possible through liberated ports. Major-General G. W. Erskine, who is Deputy-Supreme Commander in Belgium, with other senior Allied and Belgian officials will then establish a standing committee for the elaboration of the imports programme. A further major development to-day was the resistance movements' announcement that they are forming a national resistance council as a counter to the Government proposal to form a central organisation for resistance groups. "Situation Firmly in Hand" Belgian trade miions called for a 24-hour general strike to-day and already 3000 post office and tramway workers, also heavy industrial workers, have obeyed the call. Government quarters, however, describe the situation as firmly in hand. Only 80 of 500 trams were operating in the streets to-day. Jome trams were stopped by strikers and passengers were forced to walk. Some wires and poles were pulled down. A nation-wide search for arms was in full-swing to-day. The police swooped on several areas in Brussels and seized rifles and ammunition.

Allegations by resistance movements that British troops yesterdayhelped to disarm workers and resistance members who were marching against Brussels from Mons are denied by the British authorities and Allied Supreme Headquarters.