Belgium in crisis as PM throws in the towel

BELGIUM plunged into political crisis yesterday as Prime Minister Yves Leterme threw in the towel after a key Flemish party quit his coalition government two months before the country assumes the EU chair.

The situation was in flux, however, as the king delayed a decision on whether to accept Leterme’s resignation saying a political crisis would “seriously threaten” Belgium’s role in Europe.

Flemish Christian democrat Leterme informed King Albert II of his decision to quit, after just five months at the helm, from the job he inherited from predecessor Herman Van Rompuy who left to become the first EU president.