Who Needs a Government? Not Belgium

Belgium marks a record 149 days without government today, and the binational kingdom is still mired in protracted coalition talks. It's the most serious political crisis in the nation's history, and yet Belgians are growing used to the situation, the Telegraph reports. "If they are not careful they will realize that we don't need them," said one.

Yves Leterme's Christian Democratic and Flemish Party won the most seats in June's elections, but he has been unable to form a coalition in parliament. Successive mediators appointed by the king have gotten nowhere. The caretaker government handles day-to-day business but is hamstrung with foreign policy: It's unknown, for example, if Belgium can sign an EU reform treaty next month. (More Belgium stories.)