The exact contents of De Wever’s report are not revealed, but he made it clear he had found “a degree of convergence” among the main parties on the major questions of state reform and reform – or the lack of it – of the social security system. There are those who want both, and there are those who want neither. The camps are split along language as well as political lines. In between, there are those who want one without giving away too much ground on the other. In the main, though, the parties all know that some compromise is going to be necessary if the country is ever to achieve anything like political stability.

“We can talk about the fact that the different points of view are moving closer together, but if I get into details now,” De Wever said, “any convergence is going to vanish like snow in the sunshine.”

The King’s next move was to appoint French-speaking Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo as “preformateur”, to carry out even more exploratory talks. Di Rupo’s party is the biggest on the other side of the language lines, and despite their ideological differences, he and De Wever are expected to form the basis for the eventual coalition, with Di Rupo most likely the first Walloon prime minister since the 1970s.

His function is a new one on the Belgian scene, where it is customary to have an “informateur” like De Wever followed by a “formateur” who actually forms the coalition. After the 2007 elections failed to achieve a consensus, Herman Van Rompuy was brought in as “verkenner” or “scout” – the first time that term had ever been used. Now the King has extended the political vocabulary even further by naming Di Rupo as “preformateur”. The job, regardless, appears now to be the same as it always is: talk to everyone until a result is achieved.