Belgian PM to stay on despite resignation[fr] 

The king's decision means Leterme and his government will now stay on until at least the end of the month, when the three-man panel is to present a report aimed at triggering an "institutional dialogue" to resolve the crisis. 

Leterme had resigned late on Monday evening (14 July) following his failure to broker a compromise between the country's two principal regions, Flanders and Wallonia, over the devolution of powers after months of negotiations (EurActiv 15/07/08). 

The mandate of the new panel, appointed by the king, is "to examine in what way guarantees can be offered in order to begin an institutional dialogue in a credible way," according to a palace statement. 

It comprises two francophones – the liberal former minister-president of the Brussels region Francois-Xavier de Donnéa and the Christian Democrat former minister Raymond Langendries (now an MEP) – as well as Karl-Heinz Lambertz, who leads Belgium's tiny German-speaking community. 

Flemish representatives are notably absent. But both the country's francophone and Flemish political groups gave the king's fresh approach a cautious welcome in the hope that it will avert the country's plunge towards a major political crisis. 

A key challenge the panel facing the panel will be to convince Flemish political parties that francophones are ready to engage in a dialogue on community issues after months of stalling over Flemish demands for more power to be transferred to the regions. 

Leterme had himself been in office for only four months, having finally managed to form a government in March this year after elections in June 2007. But his coalition had always been conditional on a July deadline for him to broker a deal on state reform and linguistic issues, which have been dividing Walloons and Flemings for years (EurActiv 19/03/08).