Hard work ahead for Belgium's likely PM

Brussels: Outgoing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt resigned yesterday, clearing the way for his likely successor to start the tough task of forming a stable government after Sunday's general election.

Verhofstadt's governing liberals and their Socialist partners suffered big losses and Flanders premier Yves Leterme's Christian Democrats emerged as clear victors. They secured 30 seats in the 150-seat lower house with almost 30 per cent in the Dutch-speaking northern region, where 60 per cent of Belgians live.

However, no party ever wins a Belgian election outright. Consensus is key and the Flemish Christian Democrats, along with their francophone sister party, must forge a sustainable coalition with at least one other group.

"His victory was bigger than expected, but now the problems start," said Carl Devos, politics professor at Ghent University.

While many new leaders enact their key reforms in their first 100 days in office, Leterme is likely to spend at least 100 days just building a coalition.

The Christian Democrats could build a simple centre-right majority by allying with Verhofstadt's Flemish liberals and their francophone sister party, the Reform Movement (MR) of outgoing Finance Minister Didiers Reynders.

Tax reform would undoubtedly be on their coalition agenda.

"This is the only two-party combination, but Leterme will want to keep his options open... It's very difficult to predict. The game has just begun," said Marc Swyngedouw, professor at the Catholic University of Leuven.

Reynders was in celebratory mood after his free-marketeering party displaced the Socialists as the biggest force in French-speaking Wallonia.

The Flemish liberals, who dropped to third place in the region, were more downbeat, Verhofstadt conceding defeat and accepting responsibility for the result.

The liberals' losses may complicate Leterme's bid to woo them. A number in the party sensed they had been in power too long and will need good reasons to stay in government.

Yet Leterme, 46, won partly due to a pledge to devolve more powers from the federal level to the regions, notably Flanders. Economic and foreign policy are likely to be little changed, but there will be rows over further devolution opposed by French-speakers.