Belgium experienced 541 days without a government in peacetime after elections held on 13 June 2010. A caretaker government ruled in the interim period. On 5 December 2011, Belgium's King Albert II appointed a new cabinet and a new prime minister: Elio di Rupo. The new government took office on the following day.

The record is for the longest time to form a government after elections. However, before the June 2010 elections, the Laterme II government had ended with Prime Minister Yves Leterme's resignation, which was accepted by King Albert II on 26 April 2010. From this date, Belgium went 589 days without an elected government.

Previously, Cambodia held the record in peacetime, having taken 354 days to form a government from elections in 2003-2004. In 2010, Iraq went without an official government for 289 days from the elections to the day on which the new administration took office. Iraq's record was set for the longest time without a democratic government after a period of conflict, however.