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.

“It’s a big drama for Belgium, given the European context,” said former prime minister Wilfried Martens, who is president of the centre-right European People’s Party.

“It’s terrible for the prestige of our country” he added, mindful of Belgium’s impending term, from July, at the helm of the EU’s rotating presidency.

Belgium is fiercely proud of the role of Brussels as “the capital of Europe” where the EU’s main institutions have headquarters.

The Belgian king held talks with a string of political leaders, canvassing opinion on the way forward. If a fresh general election is called it could take place in June.

Leterme’s decision to offer his resignation was forced when his Flemish liberal allies, the Open VLD, quit the five-party coalition earlier Thursday over a long-running row between the country’s Dutch-speaking and francophone communities over electoral rules in flashpoint suburbs of Brussels.

The prime minister “presented the resignation of his government”, the royal palace said in a statement. “The king is withholding his decision.”

The political crisis also made it impossible for lawmakers to hold a much-anticipated vote yesterday on imposing a ban on wearing the Islamic burqa in public.

Open VLD took its decision after lengthy talks between parties from the two linguistic regions failed to reach a deal over the special voting rights which apply to French speakers in the Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde suburbs, where around 100,000 francophones live.

These Flemish-run communities on the outskirts of the capital have been trying to dissuade French-speakers from moving in.

In a sign of Flemish nationalist solidarity, some 30 MPs and senators from the far-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party took advantage of the political limbo, proclaiming their anthem “the Flemish lion” in the lower chamber.

The government’s four remaining coalition members can still between them muster a mathematical majority, but the departure of the Flemish liberals broke the coalition’s fragile balance, leaving just Leterme’s Flemish Christian democrats and three francophone parties.

The political turmoil recalls a similar crisis which almost split the country in two and left it without a permanent government from July 2007 to March 2008 when Leterme first came to power.