Belgium Strikes Deal to Form Coalition After 536-Day Impasse
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Belgium neared the end of a 536-day political feud with an accord to form a full-time government that vows to prune the budget deficit to confront the financial crisis.
Elio Di Rupo, a French-speaking Socialist, is set to take office next week in charge of a six-party coalition, political leaders said after the governing program was completed late yesterday. A cut in Belgium’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s last week triggered the final push to end the stalemate between Dutch and French speakers that had threatened to tear the country apart.