Nine months after the general elections, Belgium's new government was finally sworn-in Thursday with Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme appointed as the country's new Prime Minister.
King Albert II swore in the new administration in the royal palace in the afternoon. Leterme, whose party was the biggest winner in the polls in June, succeeded Guy Verhofstadt as Prime Minister.
Belgium's Yves Leterme (C) is sworn in as Belgian Prime Minister in the presence of King Albert II at the Laeken Palace in Brussels March 20, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Leterme, 47, is scheduled to deliver his government's policy statement in parliament Thursday afternoon.
The five coalition parties – two Flemish parties and three francophone parties – reached agreement early this morning on the allocation of ministerial posts.
The new government consists of 15 ministers and seven deputy ministers, and there are few changes from the interim administration led by Verhofstadt, which has been in place since December, Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported.
