Belgium breaks government deadlock[fr][de] 

The deal, reached in the early hours of 18 March, opens the door for the winner of the 10 June 2007 elections, Flemish Christian Democrat (CD&V) Yves Leterme, to become Prime Minister at last. 

For the past three months, the post had continued to be held by the incumbent Guy Verhofstadt – despite the significant losses suffered by his Flemish Liberal party in the elections – following Leterme’s two successive failures at forming a government coalition. 

The main bone of contention in the coalition negotiations had been demands made by Leterme and his sister party, the Flemish N-VA ("New Flemish Alliance"), a nationalist movement led by Bart De Wever, to grant more autonomy to the country’s regions. 

In the end, an agreement was only made possible because Flemish and francophone parties agreed to set aside questions relating to the reform of the Belgian Federal State and to the relations between the country’s two major linguistic communities. Only a few minor transfers of power to the regions have been approved, with parties committing to a deeper reform in the future. The programme also includes promises of higher pensions and lower taxes, although how this will be financed remained vague. 

While Leterme described the package as "a good deal for a government, with balanced measures", others say many issues remain unresolved.

Having criticised the state reform package as too vague, Leterme’s sister party, the NVA, decided not to enter into the government. De Wever has indicated that his party would nevertheless support Leterme in a vote of confidence on 22 March, although, he himself will abstain. 

The five remaining parties in the coalition (the CD&V and its Francophone "equivalent", the CDh, led by Joëlle Milquet, as well as the Flemish and the Francophone Liberal Parties (Open VLD and MR) and the Francophone Socialists) still need to agree on the distribution of ministerial portfolios before the new, definitive government can be sworn in, although this is expected to happen by tomorrow (20 March). 

The new Prime Minister will then come under strong pressure, in the coming months, to show that, this time around, he can succeed in pushing through his promised reforms. Indeed, his own party, the CD&V has warned it would withdraw its confidence by mid-July if it judges the results achieved on state reform and linguistic issues unsatisfactory.