General elections were held inBelgiumon 31 March 1968.[1]TheChristian Social Partyremained the largest party.[2]Voter turnout was 90.0%.[3]Elections for the nineprovincialcouncils were also held.
The snap elections were called after the government, a coalition of the Christian Social Party and the liberal Party for Freedom and Progress led by Christian DemocratPaul Vanden Boeynants,fell due to theLeuven Crisis.
The linguistic crisis would trigger the split of the dominant Christian Social Party into a Flemish and French-speaking party. The two other main parties would follow suit. The crisis also caused the rise of small linguistic, federalist parties, such as thePeople's Unionon the Flemish side and theDemocratic Front of the FrancophonesandWalloon Rallyon the French-speaking side.