Belgium plunged into political crisis on Thursday as Prime Minister Yves Leterme threw in the towel after a key Flemish party quit his coalition government two months before the country assumes the EU chair.
The situation was in flux, however, as the Belgian king delayed a decision on whether to accept Leterme's resignation saying a political crisis would "seriously threaten" the country's role in Europe.
Leterme's decision to offer his resignation was forced when his Flemish liberal allies, the Open VLD, quit the five-party coalition earlier Thursday over a long-running row between the country's Dutch-speaking and francophone communities over electoral rules in flashpoint suburbs of Brussels.
Flemish Christian democrat Leterme informed King Albert II of his decision to quit, after just five months at the helm, from the job he inherited from predecessor Herman Van Rompuy who left to become the first EU president.
Belgium is fiercely proud of the role of Brussels as 'the capital of Europe' where the EU's main institutions have their headquarters. - afp
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