Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has tendered his government's resignation to King Albert following the collapse of the coalition.
The royal palace said the king is considering whether to accept it, as he believes the crisis 'seriously threatens' Belgium's standing within the EU.
Mr Leterme's five-month-old government collapsed this morning after the Flemish liberal party withdrew its support for the five-party coalition.
The withdrawal of the Liberal Open VLD party leaves the Christian Democrats in a minority government, holding 76 seats out of 150.
The Liberals pulled out of the coalition over a long-running language dispute between francophone and Dutch-speaking communities.
A controversial law would have given French-speaking residents living in Dutch-speaking Flanders the right to vote for French-speaking candidates.
The withdrawal will prevent the vote later today on a total ban of the Islamic burqa and other types of veil.
If passed it would have been the first parliament in the world to impose a national ban on the dress.
