2007 Belgian federal election
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All 150 seats in theChamber of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority 40 of 71 seats in theSenate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 91.08% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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2007–2011 Belgian political crisis |
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See also |
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.[1]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.[2][3]SP.A leaderJohan Vande Lanotteresigned from his leadership position as well that day.[4]
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
[edit]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
[edit]Only parties who fielded candidates for the Belgian Senate are listed.
Flemish parties (Dutch speaking)
[edit]These Flemish parties field candidates in the regions ofFlandersand the partially bilingual electoral districtBrussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
CD&V/N-VA
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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!
[edit]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.[5]
LDD
[edit]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+
[edit]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
[edit]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)
[edit]TheseFrancophoneparties fielded candidates in theWalloon Regionand in the electoral districtBrussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
PS
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Ecolois aGreen party.It made the largest gains of the 2007 election among Francophone parties and went from 7.5% to 12.8%.
FN
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Good governance
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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,[6][7]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.[8][9]
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.[10][11]
Opinion polls
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Chamber of Representatives
[edit]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
[edit]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.[12][13]
Government formation
[edit]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,[14][15](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).[16]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.[17]
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.[18]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.[19]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Belgian PM concedes defeat".CNN.com. 2007-06-11.Retrieved2007-06-15.[dead link]
- ^"Belgian premier to hand in resignation".CNN.com. 2007-06-11.Retrieved2007-06-15.[dead link]
- ^"King accepts PM's resignation".Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-06-11.Retrieved2007-06-15.
- ^"Socialists opt for opposition".Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-06-11.Retrieved2007-06-15.
- ^"Vera Dua:" This is a new start "".Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-06-10.Retrieved2007-06-15.
- ^Mehmet Koksal,Ergün Top: "En cas de guerre, je me battrai contre la Belgique si nécessaire",Humeur allochtone, 3 June 2007
- ^Mehmet Koksal,Futur soldat turc Ergün Top fera "face à la Belgique" en cas de guerre,Humeur allochtone, 6 June 2007
- ^"Vande Lanotte won't use" genocide "".2007-06-07. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-09-29.Retrieved2007-06-07.
- ^"Leterme erkent Armeense genocide".De Standaard(in Dutch). 2007-06-06.Archivedfrom the original on 9 June 2007.Retrieved2007-06-07.
- ^"Voorstel van resolutie betreffende de genocide in 1915 van de in Turkije levende Armeniërs"(in Dutch).Belgian Senate.
- ^"Proposition de résolution relative au génocide des Arméniens de Turquie en 1915"(in French).Belgian Senate.
- ^"Convocation of the Senate"(in Dutch).Belgian Senate.Retrieved2007-06-11.
- ^"Convocation of the Senate"(in French).Belgian Senate.Archivedfrom the original on 16 July 2007.Retrieved2007-06-11.
- ^"King picks Mr Reynders as" informateur "".Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-06-13.Retrieved2007-06-15.
- ^"King appoints coalition adviser".CNN.com. 2007-06-13.Retrieved2007-06-15.[dead link]
- ^"Eind juni klaar met informatieopdracht"(in Dutch). VRT Nieuws. 2007-06-13.Retrieved2007-06-13.
- ^"The Belgian plumber is back".Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-07-05.Retrieved2007-07-06.
- ^"Leterme stapt op"(in Dutch). Knack.be. 2007-08-23. Archived fromthe originalon 26 August 2007.Retrieved2007-08-23.
- ^"Belgium coalition talks collapse".BBC. 2007-12-01.Archivedfrom the original on 2 December 2007.Retrieved2007-12-01.
External links
[edit]- Elections 07VRT election site
- Tractothèque - Electoral posters and leaflets