by Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), the Minister for Justice. Prime Minister of Belgium, first premiership On 18 March 2008, an agreement between five parties on the formation of the new government was announced. Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister on 20 March, and his government was approved by the Chamber of Representatives on 22 March, with 97 votes in favour, 48 against, and one abstaining. For Leterme, priority issues were still further devolution of power to Belgium's regions, which would require amending the national constitution, and resolving dissatisfaction with the administrative status of the districts of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. He set a deadline of 15 July 2008 to accomplish these goals. The deadline was not met. On 15 July 2008, King Albert II issued a communiqué that Leterme had offered his resignation to the king, and that the king was reserving his decision on whether to accept the resignation. The next day, the king held consultations with the leaders of political parties, the employers' association, and trades unions. By the end of the day, it was still not resolved whether Leterme would actually be departing from the prime ministership. Leterme declared, "It appears that the [language] communities' conflicting visions of how to give a new equilibrium to our state have become incompatible . . . state reform remains essential". Fortis and fall of government Along with his counterparts in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Leterme decided to nationalise ailing financial-services company Fortis. The company was split and the Belgian government sold the Belgian part to French bank BNP Paribas. The shareholders, who were not consulted in the sale, sued the Belgian state. Although at first the government won, on appeal the court of appeal reversed the judgement of the lower court and ordered the freezing of the sale. Following the verdict, First President Ghislain Londers of the Court of Cassation indicated that government officials had tried to influence the judges. Leterme tendered his resignation and that of his government on 19 December 2008, which was accepted by King Albert II on 22 December. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Second Premiership With 17 July 2009 government reshuffle, Leterme succeeded Karel De Gucht, who became European Commissioner, as the minister of foreign affairs in the Van Rompuy I Government. Following Van Rompuy's assignation as president of the European Council, Leterme once again became Prime Minister of Belgium. His place as Minister of Foreign Affairs was