reached, expired without a compromise. A compromise worked out by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was explicitly opposed by only one coalition partner, namely the Flemish party Spirit. It is believed that this compromise would have entitled the French Community with the right to exercise certain, limited powers over inhabitants of the Flemish Community, in return for the splitting of BHV. After visiting King Albert II to report the failure of the seven negotiation meetings to reach a successful conclusion, the Prime Minister requested a vote of confidence from the parliament. The Parliament supported the government on 13 May 2005 and the issue was put on hold until the next general election in 2007. Elections in 2007 With the federal elections of 10 June 2007 looming, the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde reemerged. Because the federal government failed to comply with a ruling of the Court of Arbitration that declared the provincial electoral districts compared to the two remaining arrondisemental ones in the former province of Brabant unconstitutional, several mayors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde area have threatened to refuse to compile the lists of electors. Professor and constitutional expert from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven declared that the elections, held on 10 June were unconstitutional for two reasons: As the previous election was held on 18 May 2003, the final date to hold elections (four years from the previous) was 13 May 2007. The Court of Arbitration gave the government the time to fix the BHV problem until the next elections were scheduled; otherwise, the election results were supposed to be declared void. As in 2003, several mayors and groupings have called for a boycott of the elections, and 24 communes have refused to cooperate in the organization of the elections. In May 2007, the municipality of Steenokkerzeel launched a court case against the federal government for not complying with the ruling of the Court of Arbitration. The case should have started on 25 May 2007 but the case was mistakenly scheduled in a one-judge court room rather than a three-judge court room and so was delayed. 2007–2008 formation of the government The problem of BHV became an important issue in the 2007–2008 Belgian government formation. On 7 November 2007, the Flemish parties voted at the Committee on the Interior of the Chamber of Representatives for the disentanglement, while the French-speaking parties refused to vote and left the room. This situation