June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Belgian Christian Democrats will start talks aimed at forming a new federal government after voters ousted Liberal Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt following eight years in power.

The Christian Democrats in the Flanders region, which accounts for more than half of Belgium's 290 billion-euro ($388 billion) economy, won eight more seats in Parliament, giving the party 30 of the 150 seats, more than any other party.

The composition of the new government is an open question, and may take months of talks to become clear. Yves Leterme, leader of the Christian Democrats in the northern region of Flanders, is set to guide the coalition talks after yesterday's national election. Leterme, 46, will need to find common ground between the country's often-feuding French speakers in the country's unemployment-plagued south and the Dutch speakers in Flanders.

``The way the cards are dealt makes it very difficult for the Christian Democrats because both Liberals and Socialists will play the game very hard,'' said Carl Devos, a professor of political science at the Ghent University, after the election. ``You don't enter a new government after suffering defeat without pressing ahead with your agenda.''

Linguistic Divide

A coalition needs to have more than 50 percent of the 150 seats in Parliament. To make changes to the constitution, such as transferring to the regions more powers for the labor market and fiscal responsibility, a two-thirds majority is needed. That may mean all three traditional parties -- Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Socialists -- joining forces on both sides of the linguistic divide.

``The chances of a `tripartite' arrangement with a limited lifespan are rising,'' Devos said. ``That coalition would handle state reform, some big investment projects and then call new elections in 2009 at the same time as the regional vote.''

Christian Democrats have been absent at the federal level for eight years. Leterme, now head of the Flemish regional government, aims to shift more power to the regional governments and aims to lower labor costs.

``As of tomorrow we will have to show we are worthy of your trust, to make change happen, to make sure that we have better governance,'' Leterme told supporters yesterday as voting results were being tallied. ``More certainty, more security, more justice coupled with a modern state reform.''

Leterme was the most popular candidate with 796,521 personal votes for the senate, beating Verhofstadt in second place with 493,355 votes. Leterme's senate vote is the most since 1979, when Christian Democrat Leo Tindemans garnered 983,600 votes.

Previous Elections

With the winning parties jostling over the makeup of a new coalition, King Albert II will select a senior politician to examine coalition options, possibly as early as this week. At a later date, he'll appoint a leading politician, usually the leader of the party with the most votes, to assemble the next government, a process that may last months. The politicians will then select a prime minister.

``Compared with previous elections, it will now be very difficult negotiations to form a government,'' said Patrick Casselman, who manages about 500 million euros at KBC Asset Management in Brussels. ``It will be some months of negotiations and I think we won't have another government until September.''

It took Verhofstadt 51 days to forge the last coalition in 2003 and 28 days in 1999. It took Wilfried Martens 148 days in 1988, the longest period since World War II.

Verhofstadt's Flemish Liberals won 18 seats, down seven from 2003, in the lower house of Parliament. The Socialists are the biggest losers in Flanders with 14 seats, or nine fewer than in 2003. The leading party in French-speaking Wallonia is the Liberals with 23 seats, followed by the Socialists with 20 seats. Still, the Socialists and the Liberals have lost seats to the French-speaking democrats and the ecologists known as Ecolo.

`Different Majority'

Verhofstadt, promising 3.85 billion euros in new tax cuts and more jobs, lost as he sought a third four-year term. His Flemish Liberal party is now the second-biggest in Flanders and will probably keep a place in the next coalition.

``The voters have chosen a different majority other than the one that has governed the country these past eight years,'' Verhofstadt said after the election. ``Still, the force of our project has been untouched, with our French-speaking colleagues vying for the top spot.''

Verhofstadt is gone from national politics, Bart Somers, chairman of Verhofstadt's party, said yesterday in a separate interview on Flemish television.

Belgium, a country of 10.5 million people, has no unified national political parties and is split between a Dutch-speaking north and French-speaking south.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Clapham in Brussels at aclapham@bloomberg.net; John Martens in Brussels at jmartens1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 11, 2007 05:56 EDT