Belgian King Albert gave former premier Wilfried Martens the task today of resolving the political crisis that followed last week's collapse of Prime Minister Yves Leterme's government.
Belgium's third political breakdown in a year was prompted by a Supreme Court report on political meddling in a legal case over the rescue of stricken bank Fortis, and made more intractable by differences between the country's Dutch- and French-speaking communities.
"The king charged him with an exploratory mission so as to find a solution quickly to the current political crisis," the palace said in a statement, adding that Martens, (72), had accepted the job. Martens led Belgium between 1979 and 1992.
The king accepted the resignation of Mr Leterme's government earlier in the day but asked it to stay on in a caretaker capacity.
Mr Leterme ruled out a return to office, but there was little sign that the five coalition parties would agree on a successor.
Mr Martens brings to the task a wealth of experience in political turbulence, having led nine separate governments from 1979 to 1992 and having had to confront the sharp economic downturn of the early 1980s.
"He must explore the scene and see what the solutions might be. It shows how difficult the situation is. It doesn't seem so good," said Carl Devos, political scientist at Ghent University.
"After him, there should be someone come to form a government." Jean-Luc Dehaene, prime minister from 1992 to 1999, emerged on Monday as the most likely candidate to head an interim government until June 2009, when parliamentary elections could be held to coincide with planned regional and EU votes.
"He has the experience, he's been prime minister and would be an effective crisis manager," Devos said.
The new leader will have plenty of problems to solve.
Belgium, host to NATO and the European Union, is expected to slide into recession this quarter and urgently needs to enact a €2 billion ($2.8 billion) recovery package and a deal on wages, as well as find a solution to the Fortis debacle.
Fortis investors, whose shares have dropped to around €1 from almost €30 in April 2007, have successfully challenged the group's state-led break-up and asset sale to France's BNP Paribas and want the deals to be renegotiated.