Belgian king appoints new coalition negotiators

Sep 5, 2010, 15:45 GMT

   Brussels - Belgium teetered a step away from political crisis overnight to Sunday as King Albert II accepted the resignation of the man charged with leading preliminary coalition talks and appointed two politicians to replace him.

   Belgium is divided into Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia. The two are at odds over their shares of power and money, and elections on June 13 exacerbated that divide by bringing diametrically opposed parties to power in the two regions.

   After the vote, the king appointed French-speaking Socialist Elio Di Rupo to lead preliminary coalition talks. But after two months of fruitless negotiations, Di Rupo attempted to resign a week ago, and repeated his bid on Friday.

   The king 'accepted Mr Di Rupo's request to be relieved of his mission' and tasked the presidents of the two houses of parliament, French-speaking Socialist André Flahaut and Flemish nationalist Danny Pieters, with a 'mediation mission,' a palace statement said.

   'This is necessary for the economic and social welfare of our citizens and to carry out a sustainable reform of the institutions,' the statement said.

   The two men's main task will be to try to restore trust between the two linguistic communities, analysts in Brussels said.

   That is likely to be a difficult task. The two sides have been at odds over the question of constitutional and electoral reforms ever since the last set of elections, in July 2007.

   Belgium has been under a caretaker government for nearly 100 days. The country also currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency.