Belgium breaks 16-month deadlock as new government forms

Belgium is finally getting a new government on Wednesday, 16 months on from a parliamentary election, with the Belgian king, expected to name caretaker finance minister Alexander De Croo as the new prime minister.

Following weeks of talks, seven parties spanning the French-Dutch language divide have agreed to form a governing coalition to replace the caretaker administration of Sophie Wilmes, who led Belgium through six months of the Covid-19 crisis.

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Belgium has one of the world's highest Covid-19 fatalities per capita. The death toll passed 10,000 on Wednesday.

De Croo was set to lead the new government, Belgian newspapers including daily Le Soir reported, citing anonymous sources.

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Paul Magnette, leader of the French-speaking Socialists, said on Twitter that he was heading to the palace to form a government with other parties.

Belgium had been under a caretaker administration since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in March and without a fully-fledged government since December 2018, when a four-party coalition collapsed.