Yves Leterme, the Belgian prime minister-in-waiting has provoked the ire of millions of his countrymen, before he has even been officially sworn in.
When asked on TV if he could sing the national anthem, he burst into a stirring rendition of that wonderfully hummable tune, La Marseillaise.
Unfortunately, La Marseillaise is, of course, the French national anthem, celebrating the storming of the Bastille - Mr Leterme's own anthem is La Brabanconne.
Though he inadvertently proved a recent poll that revealed that 75 per cent of Belgians don't know the words to their national anthem, such an unpatriotic slip isn't especially ministerial.
A swift, frank apology could possibly have undone the damage, but Mr Leterme's irritated response of "Oh, I don't know", when asked if he was sure that he'd sung the right song probably won't have helped his struggling reputation.
He then went on to confound matters by giving an incorrect answer to the question of why Belgium's national day is on July 21st.
His dignified reply to the criticism that predictably ensued?
"I have much more important things to do than this crap. Those who are after me will pay for it sooner or later."
For a new prime minister, he's done a wonderful job in quelling fears of unrest between the French-speaking Belgian south and the prosperous Flemish-speaking north.
