Flemish liberal party Open VLD decided to withdraw from the country's ruling coalition, reigniting a nationwide crisis that has been dividing the French and Dutch-speaking parts of the country since national elections were held three years ago (EurActiv 03/12/07) .
Open VLD said it had lost confidence in the government over its handling of a dispute between French- and Dutch-speaking parties over electoral boundaries around Brussels.
"We have not agreed on a negotiated solution and therefore Open VLD no longer has confidence in the government," said Alexander De Croo, the party's chairman.
Prime Minister Yves Leterme left his cabinet at around 13:00 local time to hand in his resignation to King Albert II.
The king still has the opportunity to refuse his resignation, but it would be hard for Leterme to govern without the support of Open VLD, as the ruling coalition would hold just 76 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament.
King Albert II bought himself time to discuss the matter with the leaders of Belgium's main political parties before deciding whether to accept or reject Leterme's resignation. Talks are due to continue on Friday and over the weekend to see whether a new government coalition can be cobbled together.
Open VLD sources told EurActiv that the country is most likely heading for early elections.
This new crisis is an embarrassment for Belgium as the country prepares to take on the EU's rotating presidency for six months on 1 July.
Linguistic feud
The reasons for the crisis are not new. The liberal Open VLD and other Flemish parties want to split the Brussels-Hal-Vilvoorde voting district around the Belgian capital - which is bilingual - into separate voting constituencies. The issue was top on the political agenda of Yves Leterme when he won the national election in June 2007 (EurActiv 9/11/07).
Geographically the Brussels voting district is situated in Flanders, and Flemish parties argue that some of its 'communes' on the city's periphery should be seen as Dutch-speaking.
But French-speaking parties reject this and want guarantees to ensure that the rights of linguistic minorities around Brussels are respected.
There are about 100,000 or so French speakers who live on the city's margins and they enjoy special privileges, like being able to cast their ballot in the bi-lingual electoral district of Brussels-Hal-Vilvoorde (BHV). Some of these municipalities are even home to more French than Dutch speakers.
However, most Dutch-speaking parties oppose this privilege and have called for the district to be split into separate entities between Brussels proper and the Flemish municipalities.
EU presidency
Last year, Herman Van Rompuy, who was prime minister of Belgium before taking up his current role as president of the European Council, said he would strive to solve the country's internal tensions by mid-2010, before the start of the EU presidency.
"During the [EU] presidency, we cannot take the risk of a political crisis," Van Rompuy stressed (EurActiv 27/07/09).
Sources in the European Parliament told EurActiv that the latest "Belgian affair" would severely dent the credibility that the small country regained when former PM Van Rompuy became EU Council president in late 2009 (EurActiv 25/11/09).
