Migration row forces Belgian PM's resignation

Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel announced his resignation on Tuesday, the International Day for Migrants, over his controversial support for a UN migration agreement.

Michel, who will turn 43 on Friday, made the decision after the New Flemish Alliance (or N-VA), the main partner in his coalition government, quit its support for him and the UN Compact on Migration signed in Marrakech, Morocco, last week.

Michel told King Philippe of his decision late on Tuesday, and the king was expected to meet party leaders on Wednesday before announcing whether he will accept the resignation and whether there is any support for early elections. Belgians were scheduled to go to the polls in May.

"I have decided to resign and will immediately go to see the king," Michel said on Tuesday. He noted that his earlier call to form a "willing coalition" to govern until the next election had "not convinced" and had "not been heard", and said he would respect this situation.

Michel, who took office in Oct 14, 2014, after forming a right-wing coalition government, opposed the idea of early elections in his speech on Tuesday. He was the youngest prime minister in Belgium since 1841.

It is possible that Michel may stay on as caretaker prime minister with limited power until parliament is dissolved in April. The N-VA is now the biggest party in parliament, controlling 31 of the 150 MPs.

Change in attitude

All the four parties in the coalition government, including N-VA, did agree on the migration deal earlier. But N-VA changed its position.

Michel had secured a large parliamentary majority of 106 to 36 in favor of supporting the agreement on Dec 5, after which he had said he would endorse the deal on behalf of the parliament, not the divided government.

The withdrawal of N-VA allowed the remaining three parties to continue as a minority government that lasted only a week.

Belgium's ambassador to the UN has said that the signing of the pact would go ahead in the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday despite Michel's decision to submit his resignation.

The UN migration deal, which is not legally binding, seeks international cooperation on migration. But critics in Belgium and some other European countries, including former Belgian immigration minister Theo Francken, believe it will lead to a hike of immigration to the region.

The deal was agreed by 196 UN member states in July and was later signed by 164 countries. The United States and several other countries－Austria, Italy, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia－refused to formally adopt the accord.

On Sunday, several thousand protesters demonstrated in Brussels against their government's endorsement of the migration deal. The protest turned into violent clash with the police, which used tear gas and water cannon.