Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme yesterday ruled out a return to office while media speculation grew that King Albert was trying to revive the collapsed government in the face of urgent economic problems.
"He wants first to clear his name and that of his staff of any suspicion," a spokesman for Mr Leterme said.
Mr Leterme offered his government's resignation on Friday after the supreme court said there were strong signs of political meddling in a court case over the controversial rescue of financial group Fortis at the height of the financial crisis.
The king, who has held consultations with leading politicians, has yet to decide whether to let the government quit.
He had still not had any audiences by yesterday evening.
Belgian news agency Belga said the head of Mr Leterme's Flemish Christian Democrats, Marianne Thyssen, was set to meet the king.
The party, as the biggest in parliament, is expected to decide who becomes prime minister.
Belgium is expected to slide into recession this quarter and urgently needs a government to push through a €2 billion stimulus package and a deal on wages, and find a solution to the Fortis debacle.
Fortis investors, whose shares have dropped to about €1 from almost €30 in April 2007, have successfully challenged the group's break-up and asset sale to France's BNP Paribas.
Belgian media, including the websites of De Morgenand De Standaardnewspapers, reasoned that since so far the king had consulted only the heads of five ruling parties, he wanted them to continue their coalition.
"The most realistic scenario is a reconstitution of the same majority," the French-language Le Soiradded. - (Reuters)