BRUSSELS, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Following a meeting with the newly-appointed royal informants, King Philippe of Belgium decided to extend the deadline of the mission to form a federal government, according to a royal communiqué released on Thursday.
"The King received Messrs. Didier Reynders and Johan Vande Lanotte at Royal Palace in Brussels who reported to the king on their current proposal. The mission has now been extended and the informants will report back to the King on Monday 17 June." read the communique.
"They will continue to work to enable the formation of a Federal Government as soon as possible", assured a spokesperson of the royal palace.
A week ago, King Philippe appointed the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence Reynders and former Deputy Prime Minister of Flanders Vande Lanotte as informants to examine the conditions under which a federal government can be formed.
They have completed a week-long first round of discreet consultations with representatives of political parties as well as institutions and organizations outside the political field, in an effort to set the main socio-economic challenges that await the country.
However, the King's decision to extend the mission signals that more needs to be done before a federal government is put together.
The Belgian federal elections took place on May 26 where 150 members of the House of Representatives were duly elected. Given the economic, social and administrative configuration of Belgium's three regions, the linguistically divided country could take some time to form a federal coalition.
Back in 2010, it took Belgium a record 541 days before it succeeded in forming a federal government.
According to Reynders, a 541-day crisis is no longer possible today. "On the basis of all that we have maintained as meetings between the various partners, we believe that a scenario such as we have experienced between 2010 and 2011 is no longer possible today," he told a press conference here n Thursday.
