Marriage of Convenience

Belgium's parliament backed Verhofstadt to head the interim government by a margin of 97 to 46 in an extraordinary session on Sunday, Dec. 23. The acting Prime Minister is expected to hand over the reins to election-winner Yves Leterme, on March 23, who has been unable to create a coalition between Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloon parties.

"We face a huge challenge," said Verhofstadt, who has become the country's most popular politician in the more than six months since he lost the June 10 election.

Verhofstadt will have to deal with a number of urgent problems that were neglected during the political crisis that lamed the country, including drafting a budget for 2008.

His government will be made up of his Flemish liberal party VLD, its Walloon sister party MR, the Walloon socialist party PS, Leterme's Flemish Christian democratic party CD&V and its Walloon equivalent, CdH. The Flemish nationalist NV-A, which had been instrumental in blocking the formation of a coalition, will not be part of the interim government.

"Marriage of convenience"

Meanwhile, the country's biggest parties aim to reach a consensus on how the Flemish and Walloons can work together in the future.

The Flemish want more autonomy for Flanders, in the north of Belgium. The Walloons fear that would result in fewer subsides for their poorer southern part of the country.

Verhofstadt, who has been Belgium's prime minister for eight years, called on the Flemish and Walloon liberal and Christian democratic parties to come to an agreement.

"Sometimes love is particularly enduring when it's a marriage of convenience," the DPA news agency quoted him as saying.