Belgian PM's resignation accepted

The Belgian king has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme's government, but asked it to stay on in a caretaker capacity.
Former PM Wilfried Martens has been asked to mediate in efforts to put together a new government. A palace statement said Mr Martens had accepted.
Analysts tip another former PM, Jean-Luc Dehaene, as favourite to head a new interim coalition.

Mr Leterme offered to resign amid a row over the sale of troubled bank Fortis.
The moves come after a series of consultative meetings over the weekend to consider the impact of the government's resignation during the current financial crisis.
Mr Leterme only took office in March, nine months after a general election had resulted in political deadlock founded in tensions between Flemish and Walloon groups.
He tendered his resignation in June after he failed to push through plans to devolve more power to the regions, but the king rejected it.
Court ruling
Fortis bank has been one of the European banks hardest hit by the credit crunch, leaving it desperately short of cash.

The government was forced to take over and sell nearly all of the company's assets.
Hundreds of thousands of investors were left with virtually nothing and so began a successful legal action effectively preventing the asset sale.
Earlier this month, the Brussels appeal court ruled in favour of the shareholders and froze the sale of most of Fortis to France's BNP Paribas, which was supposed to have been finalised this week.
Last week, Belgium's Supreme Court president said there were "undoubtedly significant indications" that members of the Belgian government had attempted to influence the outcome of the court case.

Belgians sometimes make sarcastic jokes that they live in a banana country, crudely referring to what happens politically in some third world countries. I hope this will be the start of a political rejuvenation, because with all due respect, bananas taste better in South East Asia/Africa/South America than in Europe.

Belgium's government in crisis over Fortis

RNW News
19-12-2008

Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme has been accused of trying to influence a judge in the Fortis takeover case. On Thursday the opposition called for his resignation. A higher court, the Court of Cassation, is investigating the matter.

Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium After an eight-hour session on Thursday evening the cabinet decided that neither the prime minister nor any ministers would step down. Belgium's VRT public television is reporting that ministers were discussing the possible resignation of Mr Leterme, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders and Justice Minister Jo Vandeurzen over the affair. It has not been confirmed that all three were involved in the alleged pressurising of the judges.

A decision on the ministers' position has been postponed until publication of the Cassation Court report about the judicial procedure that led to the verdict in the Fortis case. The court will report on Friday.

So what happened?

A week ago the Court of Appeal in Brussels declared that the government's sale of the Fortis Bank to BNP Paribas of France should not have taken place without shareholders' consent. The sale of the state-owned bank has been frozen for 65 days. A senior official from Mr Leterme's office contacted court officials in an attempt to prevent the Court from reaching this decision. The Prime Minister has confirmed that there was one such contact.

Earlier on Thursday, parliament wanted to question Mr Leterme about his contact with judges in the case, but he failed to appear. The speaker of parliament had been sent a letter by the Court of Cassation, which contradicted the prime minister's earlier assurance that he had not tried to influence any judge.

Avoiding a new crisis

The parties in the governing coalition are not eager to break up the cabinet, which is made up of five parties: two Liberal, two Christian Democrat, and one Socialist. It took nine months to agree on a coalition programme, during which time Belgium was practically without a government. A new period of political uncertainty, particularly during a difficult time for the national economy, is something that many politicians in Brussels say they want to avoid.

Kristof: I feel ashamed, embarrassed, disgusted...