Belgian Prime Minister resigns

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Photo: Reuters

"I have decided to submit my resignation and plan to meet the King immediately,"AFPquoted Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as saying yesterday. However, King Philippe will hold consultations before deciding whether to accept Michel's request.

Michel's announcement comes less than two weeks after the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the largest party in parliament, withdrew from the governing coalition over the prime minister's support for a UN global migration pact. Protests against the pact also took place in central Brussels, with clashes breaking out that saw police use tear gas and water cannon to restore order.

In a debate just before Michel's resignation, opposition parties refused to support the government until elections in May next year. Agriculture Minister Denis Ducarne, from Michel's French-speaking Liberal Party (MR), warned that the move risked "paralysis and crisis for the country".

The non-binding UN migration pact was initially supported by all four parties in Belgium's ruling coalition. However, the N-VA party changed its mind in late October and withdrew from the coalition, a day before Michel flew to Morocco to sign the pact.

Belgian society has historically been divided between the wealthy Dutch-speaking north and the French-speaking south, causing political instability. Belgium is the modern European country with the longest period of anarchy, with 541 days in 2010-2011.