Belgium on the brink

The man who would be Belgium’s next Prime Minister, Yves Leterme, faces a race against time to save his country. Five months without a working government, Dutch-speaking parties warned that without more autonomy for the flourishing north, they will use their parliamentary majority tomorrow to engineer the break-up of the Brussels electoral district.

That would effectively deprive French-speaking people in the capital of the right to vote for Francophone parties. One analyst described that as a declaration of war. However, with tomorrow’s deadline fast approaching, the mood may be softening. Most Flemish politicians want to keep Belgium in one piece, albeit with more power devolved to the regions.

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