( CNN ) -- The only country that has gone without a government for longer than post-Hussein Iraq ended its record-breaking run Tuesday . Hint : It 's in Europe . Another hint : It 's one of very few multiethnic countries still chugging along on the continent . Got it yet ? OK , last hint : Home of Tintin , chocolate and the European Union . Yes , it 's Belgium , which went 589 days without an elected government . New Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and his ministers met the king and took the oath of office Tuesday , the Belgian Parliament said . Di Rupo is due to make his first official statement as head of government on Wednesday . That caps Belgium 's year-and-a-half run without a government , since Prime Minister Yves Leterme 's resignation was accepted April 26 , 2010 . A temporary caretaker government had been in place since then , with politicians locked in a stalemate between the Dutch-speaking North and the French-speaking South . Di Rupo , of the Belgian Socialist Party , is leading a coalition government of six parties , the Belgian Parliament said Tuesday . Chocolatier Alice Le Fevre told CNN in September that the lack of a government had little effect on her daily life . `` For us it does n't make any difference , '' she said . `` We still have a life outside of work . We can go on vacation . We have public transport . '' There were even street parties when Belgium claimed the world record title from Iraq earlier this year . Some argued that political gridlock has even had its benefits . `` A government without power ca n't introduce new taxes , '' said Herman Matthijs , a professor of politics at the Free University of Brussels . `` On the other hand , a government without full powers ca n't take new measures concerning the outlays . The political crisis relating to the public finance saved money . '' State governments in Belgium continued to function normally during the crisis , as did the European Union . But in the long term , according to Matthijs , Belgium needs a central government to make massive mandatory budget cuts and introduce reform of public finances . CNN 's Erin McLaughlin and Laura Perez Maestro contributed to this report .
It 's the only country that has gone longer than Iraq without a government . It held street parties when it broke the record . Ordinary people say the lack of government has n't been a problem . Comment: