BRUSSELS - The fate of Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme hung in the balance Thursday, after the kingdom's top court accused his government of pressuring judges to back the dismantling of Fortis bank.
As his cabinet met in emergency session, Belgian media suggested that either the 48-year-old Flemish Christian Democrat, his justice or his finance ministers could resign.
Earlier, in a letter to the speaker of parliament, Belgium's Supreme Court president Ghislain Londers said: "Everything was done so that the ruling of the ... Court of Appeal would not be given" on the Fortis breakup.
In a case brought by Fortis' minority shareholders, a Brussels appeal court ruled last Friday that they should have been consulted on the partial sale of the bank and insurance group to BNP Paribas and froze the deal.
The move left the company's fate in doubt.
Opposition parties had called earlier Thursday for a confidence vote after Leterme acknowledged "contacts" with justice officials, while denying seeking to influence them.
Leterme only came to power in March after many months of political crisis and the allegations are a new millstone for a man who has struggled to hold a government together.
The Belgian government is mired in a complex legal battle with minority shareholders of the banking and insurance group Fortis over the sale of its Belgian assets to French bank BNP Paribas.
The group was dismantled in October with the Dutch state taking over its Dutch banking and insurance assets and the Belgian government taking over its Belgian banking business.
In a bid to secure the long-term viability of Fortis and the Belgian banking system, the government then hastily orchestrated the sale of most of the group's Belgian assets to BNP Paribas.
Until the court froze the transaction, the deal was to have gone ahead this week.
BNP Paribas acknowledged on Thursday that the deal "cannot proceed as initially planned."