BRUSSELS, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Nine months after the general elections, Belgium's new government was finally sworn-in Thursday with Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme appointed as the country's new prime minister.
King Albert II swore in the new administration in the royal palace in the afternoon. Leterme, whose party was the biggest winner in the polls in June, succeeded Guy Verhofstadt as prime minister.
Belgium's Yves Leterme (C) is sworn in as Belgian prime minister in the presence of King Albert II at the Laeken Palace in Brussels Mar. 20, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The five coalition parties -- two Flemish parties and three francophone parties -- reached agreement early this morning on the allocation of ministerial posts.
The new government consists of 15 ministers and seven deputy ministers, and there are few changes from the interim administration led by Verhofstadt, which has been in place since December, Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported.
Belgium's King Albert II (C) poses with Finance Minister Didier Reynders (L) and Prime Minister Yves Leterme during a family photo with members of the new government at the Laeken Palace in Brussels March 20, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Flemish Christian Democrats Jo Vandeurzen and Pieter De Crem stay on as justice minister and defense minister.
Flemish Liberals Karel De Gucht and Patrick Dewael remain foreign minister and interior minister respectively.
The leader of the francophone Christian Democrats, Joelle Milquet, is the new employment minister. Francophone Liberal Didier Reynders stays on as finance minister.
The francophone Socialists are represented in the cabinet by Laurette Onkelinx as social affairs minister and Paul Magnette as climate and energy minister.
The flemish Christian Democrats was the biggest winner in the elections in June last year, but Leterme failed twice to form a government because of the unbridgeable differences between Flemish and francophone parties over the devolution of powers to regions.
Parties from the more prosperous northern region of Flanders, where 60 percent of the country's population live, insisted on transfer of more powers from the federal to the regional government, while parties from French-speaking Wallonia vehemently opposed the idea.
In December, Verhofstadt was entrusted by King Albert II with the task of forming a new cabinet. An interim government, which involved the five major parties, was quickly set up, enabling the parties to continue their coalition talks while urgent national issues could be dealt with.
Verhofstadt, who had been head of government for the past nine years, had said he would step down in March whether a new government was ready or not.
On Tuesday, the five parties finally reached an agreement on a political program, ending the nine-month political stalemate which was unprecedented in Belgium's history.
Belgian political parties reach agreement on coalition gov't
BRUSSELS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Belgium's new government will be sworn-in Thursday after the country's main political parties reached an agreement on a political program Tuesday.
After almost nine and a half months, government formation talks in Belgium have resulted in a new government. New Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in by King Albert II today, together with 15 new Ministers and 7 Secretaries of State. After the election on June 10 last year, a confidence vote in the parliament in Brussels on Saturday is expected to confirm the coalition's promise of a government in time before Easter.

In his inaugural speech, Flemish Christian Democrat Leterme replied to criticism from the media and opposition that his government's manifest was vague and that there was no mutual trust between the coalition partners: "We want to increase the faith in the government, not with empty promises, but with specific measures, by investing in health care, the environment, safety and governmental services."

The coalition partners have set out several deadlines for major decisions on which agreement still could not be reached during the formation. By July 15, a council of 'wise men' has to fill the current empty space of the promised constitutional reforms. Yesterday, a survey published in the media showed that the majority of Belgians lacked confidence in the new government, and believed it will collapse within months. On a party convention yesterday, Leterme pledged he would keep his promise to his constituency, vowing to break up the government if more powers are not devolved to the regions.

The record-breaking political stalemate had promised to be difficult from the start, after the Christian Democrats won the elections in Flanders in coalition with the nationalist party N-VA. The cartel promised more regional autonomy for the northern Dutch-speaking two-thirds majority of Belgium. Negotiations promised to be tough in a country where separate parties for the main ideologies exist in each half of the country.

Political map of Belgium showing Dutch-speaking Flanders (yellow), French-speaking Wallonia (red), German-speaking area (blue striped) and bilingual Brussels Capital Region (orange).
Leader of the separatist N-VA Bart De Wever expressed his disdain about the new government: "There are more Francophone than Dutch-speaking members in this administration, which doesn't respect the proportions: Flanders has two thirds of the population and three quarters of the wealth."

During the political crisis the previous PM Guy Verhofstadt, who recognised his defeat in the elections and had seemingly withdrawn from the political stage, returned to head a caretaker government at the request of the Belgian King. In his inaugural speech today, the new PM expressed his gratefulness to Verhofstadt for his services. After almost 9 years as the Belgian PM, Verhofstadt presented his successor with the keys of his new residence at ''Rue de la Loi 16''/''Wetstraat 16'' ("16 Law St."), in Brussels.

'Madame No' Joëlle Milquet, leader of the Walloon Christian Democrats, gave her Flemish colleague Leterme a hard time during the coalition talks because she consistently resisted the Flemish demands for regional autonomy. In the new government she becomes the federal Minister of Work, a department that the Flemish nationalists want to devolve to the regional level.

As the largest political fraction, the liberals seem to have weighed heavily on the coalition. They deliver the vice-Premier and the Ministers for Constitutional Reforms, Finances, Economy, Internal and Foreign Affairs, Asylum and Migration, Agriculture, Sciences and Humanitarian Aid. The French-speaking socialists joined the coalition talks late in the process, while the Flemish socialists remain in the opposition, giving an unprecedented asymmetry to the federal government.