BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Five months after elections in Belgium, the country's two main linguistic communities appear as entrenched as ever in their positions with no clear way to form a government in sight.

The ability of would-be prime minister Yves Leterme, a federal political novice, to end the crisis is in doubt as his second shot at bridging the divide, much of it linked to a distribution of powers, yields little fruit.
Francophone media, meanwhile, wondered anew if the former Flanders leader would only ever be the voice of Flemish, rather than Belgian, interests.
On Tuesday, in a country where politics has traditionally been conducted in a spirit of compromise, the record tumbled for a period without a federal government, which must be made up of parties from both linguistic regions.
A day later, Flemish politicians set a precedent by voting to reduce certain rights of some French-language citizens, breaking an unspoken rule never to vote against their Francophone counterparts for the first time since 1830.
Flanders, more wealthy than French-speaking Wallonia and impatient to receive more federal powers, is in a natural majority, accounting for some 60 percent of Belgium's 10.5 million population.
Apart from a small German community, Walloons make up a large minority.
After the vote, one French-speaking leader -- outgoing Finance Minister Didier Reynders -- demanded ""a sign"" from Flemish politicians to restore confidence before negotiations could resume.
Leterme's Christian Democrat-led alliance, although not he in person, gave that demand short shrift, insisting instead that the French community guarantee that ""state reform"" -- the devolution of power -- would be carried out.
By Friday, the facade of Walloon unity clinging to the edifice of a federal Belgium was crumbling, as a Socialist leader accused Reynders' party of complicity with the Flemish, sparking a walk out in the regional parliament.
Many point the finger at Leterme, who has angered Walloons by questioning their ability to learn Dutch as well as confusing the Belgian and French national anthems, and want King Albert II to let someone else try.
""He's no longer credible to Francophones,"" political science professor Michel Hermans wrote in the weekend Le Soir.
""There were never really any negotiations. He made proposals to one side or another, but he has not been able to unite everyone to find a compromise.""
The 47-year-old lawyer has been accused of inflexibility, lack of charisma and experience over the latest month he has been tasked with ending the impasse.
Yet born of a Flemish mother and Walloon father, and bilingual to a level unmatched by many Belgian politicians, he had some of the key credentials needed for a bridge-builder.
But his affinities with the French-speaking community end there, as he has forcefully defended Flemish interests and the values of a region in the economic ascendancy over its struggling southern counterpart.
""As a child in Flanders, he was the only French mother-tongue speaker in his class. That translated into a strong desire to integrate into the local culture and led to this holier-than-thou attitude,"" said political expert Pierre Vercauteren.
The future of Leterme, and Belgium, may become clearer this week once the heads of the two houses of federal parliament have met political leaders and conferred with the king on what might be the best way ahead.