Brussels - Doubts deepened in Belgium on Wednesday over the chances of finding a quick way out of the political crisis gripping the country as key figures spoke out against the idea of early elections in June.

"All we need is two names from (the Flemish Christian Democrats) for prime minister and justice minister, and we can go through to (scheduled elections in) 2011," the leader of Belgium's French-speaking conservatives, Joelle Milquet, told Dutch- language daily Het Laatste Nieuws.

Almost all Belgium's major parties have now said they oppose the idea of snap elections after the five-party coalition government fell on Friday following allegations of interference in court proceedings.

Belgium's Dutch and French-speaking political parties have so far failed to form a stable government since elections in June 2007, in a row over the division of power and money between the two communities.

On Monday, King Albert II tasked former political heavyweight Wilfried Martens, 72, prime minister of 10 governments between 1979 and 1992, with exploratory talks between the parties aimed at forging a new and lasting coalition.

Political commentators suggested that Martens would name fellow veteran Jean-Luc Dehaene, 68, premier from 1992 to 1999, to lead an interim administration, and would then call for parliamentary elections in June alongside scheduled local and European polls.

But the widespread political opposition to a new vote puts the pressure on Martens to find a coalition which will last for two-and- a-half years - and therefore sidelines the idea of an interim administration headed by Dehaene, who left national politics in 2004.

Speculation is now swirling as to who could replace outgoing premier Yves Leterme, with the chairwoman of the Dutch-speaking Christian Democrats, Marianne Thyssen, named as a possible candidate. (dpa)