Efforts to form a government in Belgium are at a deadlock after the negotiator appointed by the Royal Palace to build a coalition from the five parties that won in the June general election has stepped down.
ADVERTISEMENTEfforts to form a Belgian government have stalled as the politician appointed to reach consensus for a government coalition resigned from the mandate on Thursday.
Belgian politician Bart De Wever led the Flemish nationalist party, New Flemish Alliance, that won the most votes at the recent June general election, and was appointed the position of "formateur" to find consensus.
Flemish media reports that before vacating the mandate, De Wever failed to find consensus among the five parties to agree to key Belgian policy planks, such as capital gains taxes.
The Belgian Royal Palace posted a statement on social media platform X confirming that King Philippe accepted Bart De Wever's resignation after an hour-and-a-half of talks at the Palais Royal in the country's capital.
According to the statement, King Phillip will begin discussions with political party leaders on Friday to form other possible majorities.
Belgium must form a government to file a federal budget to the European Commission by September 20, 2024.
The country’s longest period without an elected government was 592 days, exceeding the previous record of 541 days set after the 2010 elections.