The man expected to become Belgium's next prime minister has caused a stir by singing the French national anthem when asked to sing the Belgian one. Yves Leterme, head of the Flemish Christian Democrats, broke into La Marseillaise instead of Belgium's La Brabanconne on the national day.
His gaffe was filmed by Belgian RTBF television, as he was about to attend a church service in Brussels on Saturday. Dutch- and French-speaking politicians are struggling to form a new coalition.
The outgoing coalition led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt is still governing in a caretaker role as negotiations continue. Clips of Mr Leterme's gaffe have been broadcast on the internet video site YouTube.com.
Footage of him at the church service also showed him failing to sing along to La Brabanconne. He also made a mistake over Belgium's national day, saying it marked the "proclamation of the constitution". It actually commemorates the inauguration of Leopold I as the country's first king on 21 July 1831.
According to an opinion poll cited by RTBF, just one in five Belgians knows why Belgium has its national day on 21 July.
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