Because it is Europe writ small, the paralysis resulting from Belgium's election Sunday is ominous. The previous patchwork coalition government seems incapable of being put together again.
Although the former coalition parties still hold a majority of the 212-seat parliament, they are at odds with each other and lack the two-thirds needed to create more home rule for Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons. Veteran Prime Minister Wilfried Martens and traditional parties took a drubbing.
