2007 Belgian federal election

2007 Belgian federal election

10 June 2007(2007-06-10)
All 150 seats in theChamber of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority 40 of 71 seats in theSenate
Turnout	91.08%
Party Leader % Seats +/– Chamber of Representatives CD&V–N-VA Yves Leterme 18.51% 30 +8 MR Didier Reynders 12.52% 23 −1 VB Frank Vanhecke 11.99% 17 −1 Open Vld Guy Verhofstadt 11.83% 18 −7 PS Elio Di Rupo 10.86% 20 −5 sp.a–spirit Johan Vande Lanotte 10.26% 14 −9 cdH Joëlle Milquet 6.06% 10 +2 Ecolo Jean-Michel Javaux Isabelle Durant 5.10% 8 +4 Lijst Dedecker Jean-Marie Dedecker 4.03% 5 New Groen Vera Dua 3.98% 4 +4 FN Daniel Féret 1.97% 1 0 Senate CD&V–N-VA Yves Leterme 19.42% 9 +3 Open Vld Guy Verhofstadt 12.40% 5 −2 MR Didier Reynders 12.31% 6 +1 VB Frank Vanhecke 11.89% 5 0 PS Elio Di Rupo 10.24% 4 −2 sp.a–spirit Johan Vande Lanotte 10.04% 4 −3 cdH Joëlle Milquet 5.90% 2 0 Ecolo Jean-Michel Javaux Isabelle Durant 5.82% 2 +1 Groen Vera Dua 3.64% 1 +1 Lijst Dedecker Jean-Marie Dedecker 3.38% 5 New FN Daniel Féret 2.27% 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Federal Governmentbefore Federal Government after Verhofstadt II Government Verhofstadt III Government (interim)

2007–2011 Belgian political crisis
Timeline 2007 elections 2007–2008 government formation Verhofstadt III(interim) Leterme I Van Rompuy I Leterme II 2010 elections 2010–2011 government formation Di Rupo I Sixth state reform
See also Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde Partition of Belgium State reform in Belgium Politics of Belgium Cabinet of Belgium

Voters inLeuvenon 10 June 2007

Federal elections were held inBelgiumon 10 June 2007. Voters went to the polls in order to elect new members for theChamber of RepresentativesandSenate.

Eligible voters wereBelgiancitizens 18 years and older. There was a legalelectoral thresholdof 5% for political parties to meet to receive representation, but in several election districts the real electoral threshold is higher than the legal, due to the small number of seats to be elected in the particular district. The 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected from 11 electoral districts. The 40 Senate members were elected from the Dutch (25) and Francophone (15) electoral colleges.

Of the Flemish parties, the alliance ofChristian Democratic and Flemishparty (CD&V) and theNew-Flemish Alliance(N-VA) received an increased share of the vote from the previous election, held in 2003. The CD&V/N-VA list was headed byYves Leterme,and became the largest political formation in Belgium, thus leading the coalition talks for a new government.Vlaams Belangreceived more votes than in the previous election, but lost one seat.Groen!was able to return to parliament and newcomersLijst Dedeckersurprised most by immediately grabbing six seats, including one in the Senate. Prime ministerGuy Verhofstadt's "purple coalition,"consisting of hisOpen Flemish Liberals and Democrats(Open Vld) alliance list andSocialist Party – Different(sp.a/spirit), was punished in the election, with the sp.a/spirit alliance losing somewhat more than Verhofstadt's Open Vld alliance. The day after the election, Verhofstadt handed in the resignation of his government to KingAlbert II.SP.A leaderJohan Vande Lanotteresigned from his leadership position as well that day.

The Francophone situation did not mirror its Flemish counterpart. While Verhofstadt's Open Vld struggled, its Francophone sister partyMouvement Réformateurmanaged to defeat the long-dominantParti Socialiste(PS), although the PS remained strong inHainautandLiège.TheHumanist Democratic Centrebrought in a positive result as well, but the biggest gains were for the environmentalist partyEcolo.

The overall outcome of the elections was that the liberal fraction (MR, Open Vld) became the largest group in parliament with, followed by the Christian Democrats (CD&V, cdH) and N-VA with 40 seats. The electoral alliance between the Flemish CD&V and N-VA parties became the biggest single parliamentary grouping (25 seats for CD&V and 5 for N-VA).

Background

The previousgeneral election in 2003had resulted in a coalition between the socialist partiessp.a/spirit(Flemish) and theParti Socialiste(Francophone), and the centrist liberal-democratic partiesVLD/Vivant(Flemish) andMR(Francophone), withGuy Verhofstadtof the VLD to retaining his position ofPrime Minister of Belgiumuntil 2007.

Parties

Only parties who fielded candidates for the Belgian Senate are listed.

Flemish parties (Dutch speaking)

These Flemish parties field candidates in the regions ofFlandersand the partially bilingual electoral districtBrussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.

CD&V/N-VA

TheChristian Democratic and Flemishparty (CD&V) is aChristian Democraticparty that has formed an alliance with the Flemish nationalist partyNew-Flemish Alliance(N-VA). Most polls in the run-up to the election suggested that the alliance would win the election and become the largest political force in Flanders. It is led byYves Leterme,current prime minister of the Flemish Region and Community.

Having become the largest political party in the Belgian Chamber after the 2007 election, the alliance will become the fulcrum of the coalition talks for a new government. Commentators suggest that coalition talks will be difficult, as most Francophone parties see the alliance as being overly Flemish-dominated.

VB

It was the first time that theFlemish Interest(Vlaams Belang, VB) had taken part in federal elections under its new name. Ostracized by all other political parties because of its views on foreigners and immigration, the VB is unlikely to take part in a new government. The VB's lists also included members of the right-liberal Flemish Liberal Independent Tolerant and Transparent party (VLOTT) ofHugo Coveliers.

sp.a–Spirit

TheSocialistische Partij Andersis a social-democratic party and has formed a cartel list with the Flemish regionalist and left liberal partySpirit.Like their coalition partner VLD, they lost heavily in the election, which prompted sp.a party leaderJohan Vande Lanotteto step down. Vande Lanotte made it also clear that the alliance will not take part in a federal government whose sole concern is state reform.

Open VLD

Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats(Open Vld) is the alliance list of theFlemish Liberals and Democrats(VLD) of prime ministerGuy Verhofstadt,and the small liberal political partiesVivant(left-liberal) andLiberal Appeal(Liberaal Appèl) (right-liberal).

The VLD has seen some infighting in the last years, resulting in two prominent members leaving the party,Hugo Coveliers(VLOTT) andJean-Marie Dedecker(Lijst Dedecker). After the2006 municipal elections,the party had tried to revamp itself with the newly named Open Vld cartel, under direction of noted political strategistNoël Slangen.

Groen!

Groen!is an ecological party, and the successor of Agalev. It hoped to make a return to the federal legislature after being wiped out in the2003 general election.They managed to return to the Belgian parliament with four House seats and one senate seat, but their result of 6.3% was below expectations.

LDD

List Dedecker(Lijst Dedecker) is a liberal offshoot of theFlemish Liberals and Democrats,founded by Belgian SenatorJean-Marie DedeckerandBoudewijn Bouckaert,chairman of theNova Civitasthink tank. The party surprised some who doubted it would clear the 5% electoral threshold by receiving 6.3% of the Flemish vote.

PVDA+

TheWorkers Party of Belgium(Partij van de Arbeid van België) is a radical left wing party, ofMaoistorigin. Its lists also contain independent candidates. The PVDA almost doubled their votes, from 0.5% to 0.9%.

CAP

TheCommittee for Another Policy(Comité voor een Andere Politiek) is a bilingual left wing political movement, consisting of trade union militants, and political militants of communist,Trotskyistand socialist origin. It was formed in 2006 as a reaction to the more centrist course of the SP.a. Former SP.a-representative Jef Sleeckx is one of the co-founders. These elections were the first the movement participated in. They got 0.4% of the votes in Flanders.

Francophone parties (French speaking)

TheseFrancophoneparties fielded candidates in theWalloon Regionand in the electoral districtBrussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.

PS

TheParti Socialiste(PS) is a social-democratic party that took part in theVerhofstadt I Governmentand theVerhofstadt II Government.It is unlikely that the PS will deliver Belgium's next prime minister, the last Francophone prime minister wasPaul Vanden Boeynantsin 1978-79. Largest competitor of the PS is the Mouvement Réformateur (MR), which just recently broke with the PS inCharleroi,after PS aldermen were charged with corruption.

MR

TheMouvement Réformateuris a liberal party. It is a fusion of theLiberal Reformist Party(PRL), the French-linguistic partyDemocratic Front of Francophones(FDF) and a breakaway fraction of the Christian democraticCitizens' Movement for Change(MCC). It had taken part in the federal government of Guy Verhofstadt, which included MR leaderDidier Reyndersas finance minister.

The MR clearly won the elections in the French-speaking Walloon region, and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region, ousting the previously dominant Parti Socialiste. The MR campaigned on three major fronts: the need for an alternative to the PS, entangled in various scandals of corruption and accused of poor governance leading to unemployment and anachronistic political systems; the need for a new fiscal reform; lowering taxes and government grip on the economy; and finally friendliness and cooperation with its Flemish counterpart, Open VLD.

cdH

TheCentre Démocrate Humanisteis a Christian democratic party. They made a small advance (0.4%) in these elections and finished with 15.8% of the votes.

Ecolo

Ecolois aGreen party.It made the largest gains of the 2007 election among Francophone parties and went from 7.5% to 12.8%.

FN

TheFront Nationalis a Franco-nationalist political movement known for its tough stances on immigration. They gained 5.6% of the vote, the same as in 2003.

CAP

TheCommittee for Another Policy(Comité pour une Autre Politique) was a bilingual left wing political movement, consisting of trade union militants, and political militants of communist,Trotskyistand socialist origin. It was formed in 2006 as a reaction to the more centrist course of the PS and the SP.a. Former FGTB-chairmanGeorges Debunnewas one of the co-founders. These elections were the first the movement participated in. The party got 0.2% of the votes in Hainaut and Liège, the two provinces where its candidates stood.

Issues

Good governance

CD&V used the theme ofgood governanceas a breaking point against sp.a and VLD. The party claimed that unlike in theFlemish Government,where CD&V leader Leterme heads a tripartite government, with CD&V, VLD and sp.a, the federal government lacked good governance. sp.a and VLD tried to counter this charge with similar examples in the Flemish Government of practices which CD&V accused them of.

Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and constitutionality

With the federal elections looming, the problem of the electoral district ofBrussels-Halle-Vilvoorde(B-H-V) re-emerged. Because the federal government failed to comply with a ruling of theCourt of Arbitrationwhich declared the provincial electoral districts compared to the two remaining arrondisemental ones in the former province of Brabant unconstitutional. According to the ruling of the Court of Arbitration the current situation would make federal elections impossible after 24 June 2007, so the new government will have to solve the situation. Several mayors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde area have threatened and actually have refused to compile the lists of electors. The governor took over their task.

Professor and constitutional expertPaul Van Orshovenfrom theKatholieke Universiteit Leuvendeclared that the elections would be unconstitutional. According to Van Orshoven there were two problems:

• As the previous election was held on Sunday 18 May 2003, the final date to hold elections (four years from the previous) would be Sunday, 13 May 2007.
• The Court of Arbitration gave the government the time to fix the B-H-V problem until the next elections. That hasn't happened, which means that the election results could be declared void.

Corruption in the Walloon Region

Main article:Carolorégienne affair

During the campaign new irregularities and corruption in PS-leadCharleroiemerged. The MR started using this as an example of why things inWalloniaunder PS management were bad. The campaign became hostile and personal attacks between various MR, cdH and PS leaders dominated the campaign.

Armenian genocide

In the run-up to the election,Johan Vande Lanotte,leader of theSocialist Party – Different,refused to acknowledge theTurkish genocide on its Armenian minorityin the midst of a controversy about the strong allegiance to Turkey expressed in Turkish at a meeting by a Turkish-Belgian CD&V Senate candidate, Ergün Top,but also in the aftermath of a similar problem aroused during the campaign for theDutch general electiona few months earlier. The position of Yves Leterme (CD&V) on this issue was unclear at first, but he later confided to the Flemish parliament that he does acknowledge the Armenian genocide.

In 1998, the Belgian Senate had already passed a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide, including the support of SP (later sp.a) and CVP (later CD&V) senators.

Opinion polls

The polls conducted by theStemmenkampioensite ofHet Laatste Nieuwsand theVrije Universiteit Brussel[1],yield the following overall result forFlanders,compared to the2003 Senate elections.De Standaardand theVRTconducted a similar poll in November 2006, in March 2007 (the first poll in whichLijst Dedecker,a Flemish party founded in January 2007, was measured) and in May 2007.

Flanders

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Margin of error	CD&V–N-VA	VB	sp.a–spirit	Open Vld	Groen!	LDD	Others /None	Lead
De Standaart/VRT	8 Jun 2007	–	–	29.9%	21.4%	19.4%	17.7%	7.7%	3.8%	0.3%	8.5%
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	17–30 May 2007	3,070	± 2.2%	29.7%	21.6%	19.7%	17.3%	7.4%	–	–	8.1%
De Standaart/VRT	17 Apr–11 May 2007	4,206	–	29.9%	20.7%	20.4%	17.3%	8.4%	2.1%	1.1%	9.2%
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	29 Apr 2007	870	± 2.2%	29.6%	21.9%	20.3%	16.6%	6.7%	2.8%	–	7.7%
De Standaart/VRT	16 Mar 2007	–	–	30.4%	20.8%	20.7%	16.9%	7.6%	3.2%	–	9.6%
Het Laatste Nieuws	Jan 2007	812		30%	20%	17%	15%	5%	–	–	10%
De Standaart/VRT	31 Oct–16 Nov 2006	1,076	–	32.7%	21.9%	19.7%	17.3%	7.6%	–	–	10.8%

Wallonia

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Margin of error	PS	MR	cdH	Ecolo	FN	Others /None	Lead
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	17–30 May 2007	3,070	± 2.2%	31.4%	26.5%	19.2%	9.7%	8.1%	–	4.9%
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	29 Apr 2007	3,390	± 2.2%	33.4%	24.5%	19.0%	9.6%	8.2%	–	8.9%

Brussels

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Margin of error	MR	PS	cdH	Ecolo	Others /None	Lead
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	17–30 May 2007	3,070	± 2.2%	27.4%	25.0%	15.3%	10.5%	–	2.4%
ULB/Le Soir/RTBf	29 Apr 2007	880	± 2.2%	27.9%	25.9%	–	–	–	2.0%

Results

This graph shows theBelgian Chamber of Representatives2007 election results (colour) compared to those of2003(grey).

This graph shows the Dutch-speakingBelgian Senate2007 election results (colour) compared to those of2003(grey).

This chart shows theBelgian Chamber of Representatives2007 election results (right) compared to those of2003(left). The bold line shows the majority coalition.

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	CD&V–New Flemish Alliance	1,234,950	18.51	+2.20	30	+8
	Mouvement Réformateur	835,073	12.52	+1.12	23	–1
	Vlaams Belang	799,844	11.99	+0.40	17	–1
	Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	789,445	11.83	–3.53	18	–7
	Parti Socialiste	724,787	10.86	–2.16	20	–5
	Socialistische Partij Anders–Spirit	684,390	10.26	–4.65	14	–9
	Centre démocrate humaniste	404,077	6.06	+0.59	10	+2
	Ecolo	340,378	5.10	+2.04	8	+4
	Lijst Dedecker	268,648	4.03	New	5	New
	Groen!	265,828	3.98	+1.51	4	+4
	National Front	131,385	1.97	–0.01	1	0
	Workers' Party of Belgium	56,167	0.84	+0.53	0	0
	Rassemblement Wallonie France	26,240	0.39	+0.00	0	0
	Committee for Another Policy	20,083	0.30	New	0	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	19,329	0.29	+0.19	0	0
	Chrétiens démocrates fédéraux	11,961	0.18	–0.40	0	0
	Front Nouveau de Belgique	9,010	0.14	+0.04	0	0
	Wallon	8,688	0.13	New	0	New
	Belgian Union	8,607	0.13	+0.09	0	0
	National Force	6,660	0.10	New	0	New
	Vivant	5,742	0.09	–0.35	0	0
	Parti jeunes musulmans	4,373	0.07	New	0	New
	Parti Wallon	3,139	0.05	New	0	New
	Vrijheid, Intimiteit, Thuis, Arbeid en Liefde	1,780	0.03	+0.01	0	0
	Nieuwe Partij – Fervent Nationaal	1,605	0.02	New	0	New
	Vélorution	1,453	0.02	New	0	New
	Union pour un mouvement populaire – Belgique	1,408	0.02	New	0	New
	MP Éducation	1,362	0.02	New	0	New
	Trefle	920	0.01	New	0	New
	Front des Bruxellois	901	0.01	New	0	New
	Belgique Positif	880	0.01	New	0	New
	Unie	856	0.01	New	0	New
	Pluralis	757	0.01	New	0	New
	Droit et libertés des citoyens	464	0.01	New	0	New
	Groupe social des citoyens démocrates	170	0.00	New	0	New
Total		6,671,360	100.00	–	150	0
Valid votes		6,671,360	94.87
Invalid/blank votes		360,717	5.13
Total votes		7,032,077	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,720,796	91.08
Source:IBZ

The newly constituted Chamber met for the first time on Thursday 28 June 2007, when the Representatives took the oath of office.

Senate

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	CD&V–New Flemish Alliance	1,287,389	19.42	+3.65	9	+3
	Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	821,980	12.40	–2.98	5	–2
	Mouvement Réformateur	815,755	12.31	+0.16	6	+1
	Vlaams Belang	787,782	11.89	+0.57	5	0
	Parti Socialiste	678,812	10.24	–2.60	4	–2
	Socialistische Partij Anders–Spirit	665,342	10.04	–5.43	4	–3
	Centre démocrate humaniste	390,852	5.90	+0.36	2	0
	Ecolo	385,466	5.82	+2.63	2	+1
	Groen!	241,151	3.64	+1.18	1	+1
	Lijst Dedecker	223,992	3.38	New	1	New
	National Front	150,461	2.27	+0.02	1	0
	Workers' Party of Belgium	54,807	0.83	+0.01	0	0
	Rassemblement Wallonie France	32,094	0.48	+0.06	0	0
	Committee for Another Policy	21,215	0.32	New	0	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	19,632	0.30	New	0	New
	National Force	14,866	0.22	New	0	New
	Chrétiens démocrates fédéraux	13,319	0.20	–0.39	0	0
	NEE	12,115	0.18	New	0	New
	Stijn	11,097	0.17	New	0	New
Total		6,628,127	100.00	–	40	0
Valid votes		6,628,127	94.25
Invalid/blank votes		404,257	5.75
Total votes		7,032,384	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,720,796	91.08
Source:IBZ

21Community Senatorsand 10Coopted Senatorswere also appointed. The definite distribution is not known. On Thursday 28 June 2007, the directly-elected Senators took the oath of office. One week later, on 5 July 2007, the Community Senators took the oath, and two weeks later, on 12 July 2007, the Coopted Senators took the oath. On that day, the Senate was fully constituted.

Government formation

Main article:2007 Belgian government formation

Due to differences in view with regards to constitutional reform between the Flemish and Francophone parties, the negotiations to form a new government proceeded with much difficulty.

On 13 June 2007, KingAlbert IIappointed MR leaderDidier Reyndersinformateur,(someone who assesses the possibilities for government coalitions). Prior to his appointment, in his position as party leader, Reynders had indicated his preference for a coalition of Christian Democratic parties CD&V (Flanders) and cdH (Wallonia) and liberal parties MR (Wallonia) and Open VLD (Flanders).Reynders presented his final report to the King on 4 July 2007. Following the report, KingAlbert IIappointed formerPrime MinisterJean-Luc Dehaeneas mediator to prepare the ground for theformateurand to look into the possibility of a state reform.

The King then appointedYves Letermeof theCD&Vasformateur(giving him the task of forming a coalition). Negotiations were temporarily halted on 17 August to give the King the possibility to mediate. Upon the further failure of the negotiations, on 23 August Leterme resigned as formateur.As no acceptable mediator could be found, on 27 August, the King took the unusual step to consult 13 Ministers of State to find way out of the political crisis. At the end of August, the King appointedHerman Van Rompuy(also CD&V andPresident of the Belgian Chamber of Representativessince July) asexplorateur(scout). Following Rompuy's report, Leterme was again appointed formateur on 15 September. After two months of further negotiations, Leterme was still unable to form a coalition and resigned as formateur for a second time on 1 December.

See also

• 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis

External links

• Elections 07VRT election site
• Tractothèque - Electoral posters and leaflets