Chaos in Belgium

Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme resigned after it became known that his government had put pressure on a court to preclude a negative judgement on the sale of Fortis bank. Belgian politics is one big chaos, writes the daily Trouw: "Belgium lacks any consensus on its long-term future. ... The attempt by the Leterme government to influence judges in the Fortis case puts a finger on the wound: informal relations, often based on political loyalty, are wreaking havoc on the transparency of the Belgian state. The people have lost their confidence. Belgian politicians are good plumbers, and can weld all the elements of this complex country together in the most inventive of ways. But what Belgium now needs is a total rebuilding, a reorganisation which takes account of the population's growing dissatisfaction with the quality of Belgian politics."

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