As linguistic spats endure, Belgium nears record of 150 days without a government

Belgium heads for a record this week _ 150 days with no government _ unless the Christian Democrat and Liberal winners of this year's elections suddenly resolve linguistic spats deadlocking their bid to form a center-right alliance.

Five months after the June 10 vote, Yves Leterme, 47, the would-be Christian Democratic premier, has only a partial government program in hand.

The two parties are still in disagreement over three issues: the economy, more self-rule for Dutch-speaking Flanders and Francophone Wallonia, and the scope of a Brussels-area voting district that a court declared illegal in 2003.

The latter two issues have been highly …