The center-right Open VLD party withdrew from Belgium's coalition government, triggering its collapse, on April 22, saying it had lost faith in Brussels' ability to resolve disputes between French- and Dutch-speaking parties concerning electoral jurisdictions around Brussels. Belgium's two main population groups are divided not only by language and ethnicity, but wealth and political disparities. During the 19th century, French-speaking Wallonia was both politically and economically dominant, but in time the Dutch-speaking Flemish region in the north become the locus of Belgium's wealth. Flemings today argue that their region should be given greater political control in Brussels; Walloons fear that surrendering that control would mean also surrendering funds that currently flow to the south from the government's purse.
