2010 Belgian federal election
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All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 of 71 seats in the Senate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Belgium portal |
Federal elections were held in
Yves Leterme served as the caretaker prime minister of the country for the period that it had no official government.[4]
Background
Fall of the government
Following a continued lack of agreement over how to resolve the conflict over the
Constitutionality of elections
According to a statement by the Flemish President of the
Importance of elections
The international media saw the election as crucial to determine the
Date
The parliament was dissolved by Declaration of Revision of the Constitution on 7 May 2010 and elections were called by royal order of the same day.[15] The period with rules and limits on campaign spending (sperperiode), which normally runs three months prior to election day, started that day.
Voting occurred on Sunday 13 June 2010 between 08:00 and 13:00 in polling stations with paper ballots, and between 08:00 and 15:00 in those with electronic voting.
The newly elected parliament was to convene on 6 July 2010.
Parties
Flemish parties (Dutch speaking)
These Flemish parties field candidates in the regions of Flanders and the partially bilingual electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
- centre-rightpolitical party, seeking secession of Flanders.
- Christian Democratic and Flemish (Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams, CD&V) – Christian democratic party with historic ties to both trade unionismand corporative organizations.
- Socialist Party – Differently (Socialistische Partij – Anders, sp.a) – social-democraticparty.
- Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, open-VLD) – liberal party.
- Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) – seeking the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration.
- Green! (Groen!) – greenpolitical party.
- List Dedecker (Lijst Dedecker) – conservative-liberalparty.
Walloon parties (French speaking)
These
- Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste, PS) – social-democraticparty.
- Reformist Movement (Mouvement Réformateur , MR) – liberalparty.
- Humanist Democratic Centre (Centre Démocrate Humaniste, CDH) – Christian democraticparty.
- Ecolo – green political party.
- People's Party (Parti Populaire) – conservative-liberal party.
Candidates
Leterme stepped aside on 28 April 2010 and was replaced as leader of CD&V by Marianne Thyssen.[16]
Notable newcomers in politics:
- Catholic University of Leuven, was on the Senate list for CD&V.
- VRT was first on the Chamber list in East Flandersfor N-VA.
- Groen!.[17]
Polls
As of May 26, it appeared that the major development in the election was the surge in popularity of the N-VA in Flanders. Led by
Flemish constituency | Francophone constituency | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Source | CD&V
|
N-VA
|
Open VLD | SP–A
|
VB | Groen!
|
LDD
|
PS
|
FDF
|
CDH
|
Ecolo | FN
|
PP
|
RWF |
10 June 2007 | 2007 election
|
29.6% | 18.8% | 16.3% | 19.0% | 6.3% | 6.5% | 29.5% | 31.2% | 15.8% | 12.8% | 5.6% | / | / | |
29 March 2010 | La Libre Belgique[19] | 20.0% | 17.8% | 13.8% | 15.5% | 17.3% | 8.1% | 5.5% | 31.7% | 20.5% | 15.5% | 20.2% | / | 4.3% | / |
4 May 2010 | l'Avenir[20] | 18.9% | 22.9% | 14.8% | 14.2% | 12.5% | 7.9% | 3.9% | 32.5% | 21.1% | 18.2% | 17.6% | 2.9% | <1% | 2.0% |
26 May 2010 | Dimarso[21] | 19.5% | 26.0% | 12.4% | 16.0% | 10.3% | 7.8% | 5.4% | |||||||
28 May 2010 | l'Avenir[22] | 33.0% | 20.4% | 17.0% | 17.6% | 2.5% | 1.9% | 1.9% | |||||||
4 June 2010 | VRT[23]
|
19.0% | 25.2% | 13.9% | 13.8% | 11.5% | 8.2% | 6.2% | |||||||
June 2010 | La Libre Belgique[24] | 16.2% | 26% | 13.6% | 16.3% | 15% | 6.8% | 4.3% | 30% | 20.2% | 16.1% | 18.9% | 4.1% | 4.1% | / |
Results
After polls showed the N-VA receiving 29% of votes in their region, media interpreted the election as a "victory for Flemish independence".[25] The following tables contain percentages on the national level (i.e. the result of N-VA is 17.4% on the national level, while it is 27.8% on the regional level).
Chamber of Representatives
Front National+ 11,553 | 0.18 | New | 0 | New | | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pro Bruxsel | 7,201 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Left Socialist Party | 6,791 | 0.10 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Parti Pensionné PP | 6,688 | 0.10 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Vivant | 6,211 | 0.10 | +0.01 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Wallon+ | 5,857 | 0.09 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
EGALITE | 5,670 | 0.09 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
RESPECT | 5,630 | 0.09 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Mouvement socialiste plus | 2,827 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
MP Éducation | 2,572 | 0.04 | +0.02 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Vital | 2,259 | 0.03 | +0.01 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Pirate Party | 2,200 | 0.03 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Vrijheid | 1,576 | 0.02 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
N | 610 | 0.01 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Total | 6,527,367 | 100.00 | – | 150 | 0 | ||||||
Valid votes | 6,527,367 | 94.19 | |||||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 402,488 | 5.81 | |||||||||
Total votes | 6,929,855 | 100.00 | |||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 7,767,552 | 89.22 | |||||||||
Source: IBZ |
Details
Results by party (seats)
Region | Seats won per party | Total seats | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency | N-VA | CD&V | SP.A | VLD | VB | GROEN! | LDD | ||
Flanders |
Antwerp | 8 / 24
|
4 / 24
|
3 / 24
|
3 / 24
|
4 / 24
|
2 / 24
|
— | 24 / 88
|
B.H.V. | 3 / 9
|
2 / 9
|
1 / 9
|
2 / 9
|
1 / 9
|
— | — | 9 / 88
| |
East Flanders | 6 / 20
|
3 / 20
|
3 / 20
|
4 / 20
|
3 / 20
|
1 / 20
|
— | 20 / 88
| |
Leuven | 2 / 7
|
1 / 7
|
1 / 7
|
1 / 7
|
1 / 7
|
1 / 7
|
— | 7 / 88
| |
Limburg | 4 / 12
|
3 / 12
|
2 / 12
|
1 / 12
|
2 / 12
|
— | — | 12 / 88
| |
West Flanders | 4 / 16
|
4 / 16
|
3 / 16
|
2 / 16
|
1 / 16
|
1 / 16
|
1 / 16
|
16 / 88
| |
Total | 27 / 88
|
17 / 88
|
13 / 88
|
13 / 88
|
12 / 88
|
5 / 88
|
1 / 88
|
88 / 88
| |
PS | MR | CDH | ECOLO | PP | |||||
Wallonia |
B.H.V. | 4 / 13
|
5 / 13
|
2 / 13
|
2 / 13
|
— | 13 / 62
| ||
Hainaut | 11 / 19
|
4 / 19
|
2 / 19
|
2 / 19
|
— | 19 / 62
| |||
Liège | 7 / 15
|
4 / 15
|
2 / 15
|
2 / 15
|
— | 15 / 62
| |||
Luxembourg | 1 / 4
|
1 / 4
|
2 / 4
|
— | — | 4 / 62
| |||
Namur | 2 / 6
|
2 / 6
|
1 / 6
|
1 / 6
|
— | 6 / 62
| |||
Walloon Brabant | 1 / 5
|
2 / 5
|
— | 1 / 5
|
1 / 5
|
5 / 62
| |||
Total | 26 / 62
|
18 / 62
|
9 / 62
|
8 / 62
|
1 / 62
|
62 / 62
|
Results by electoral constituencies (percentages)
Region | % won per party | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency | N-VA | CD&V | SP.A | VLD | VB | GROEN! | LDD | Others | |
Flanders | Antwerp | 30.71 | 15.53 | 14.32 | 11.03 | 16.15 | 7.69 | 2.29 | 2.28 |
B.H.V. | 12.23 | 6.94 | 4.64 | 7.17 | 5.03 | * | — | — | |
East Flanders | 28.15 | 15.40 | 14.15 | 17.40 | 12.33 | 7.36 | 3.19 | 2.04 | |
Leuven | 27.05 | 16.26 | 17.79 | 14.51 | 9.61 | 9.79 | 3.14 | 1.86 | |
Limburg | 28.83 | 18.81 | 18.14 | 12.10 | 12.79 | 4.81 | 2.89 | 1.62 | |
West Flanders | 23.89 | 23.01 | 15.13 | 13.53 | 9.07 | 6.31 | 7.67 | 1.27 | |
PS | MR | CDH | ECOLO | PP | |||||
Wallonia | B.H.V. | 16.74 | 19.17 | 8.07 | 7.99 | — | 12.01* | ||
Hainaut | 48.18 | 17.52 | 11.47 | 9.41 | 2.75 | 10.67 | |||
Liège | 35.79 | 22.30 | 13.93 | 13.83 | 3.08 | 11.07 | |||
Luxembourg | 28.49 | 19.54 | 31.41 | 11.71 | 2.44 | 6.41 | |||
Namur | 32.20 | 24.65 | 15.92 | 13.38 | 3.12 | 10.73 | |||
Walloon Brabant | 22.48 | 35.79 | 12.89 | 16.33 | 5.04 | 7.47 |
Senate
Groen! 251,546 | 3.89 | +0.25 | 1 | 0 | | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lijst Dedecker | 130,779 | 2.02 | –1.36 | 0 | –1 | ||||||
Workers' Party of Belgium | 105,060 | 1.62 | +0.80 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
People's Party | 98,858 | 1.53 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Wallonie d'Abord | 62,251 | 0.96 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Rassemblement Wallonie France | 40,393 | 0.62 | +0.14 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Front des gauches | 28,346 | 0.44 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Vivant | 15,462 | 0.24 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Left Socialist Party | 7,841 | 0.12 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Committee for Another Policy | 6,254 | 0.10 | –0.10 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Mouvement socialiste plus | 3,981 | 0.06 | New | 0 | New | ||||||
Total | 6,469,103 | 100.00 | – | 40 | 0 | ||||||
Valid votes | 6,469,103 | 93.36 | |||||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 460,375 | 6.64 | |||||||||
Total votes | 6,929,478 | 100.00 | |||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 7,767,552 | 89.21 | |||||||||
Source: IBZ |
Chamber of Representatives (geographically)
These maps depict the largest party in each constituency.
Dutch-speaking constituencies
Brussels, French- & German-speaking constituencies
Most popular candidates
Candidates receiving the highest number of preferential votes.
For the Senate:[26]
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For the Chamber:[27]
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Government formation
On possible coalitions, election winner Bart De Wever announced he would seek negotiations with the Francophone Socialist Party.[28] The Socialist Party leader Elio di Rupo was tapped to become the next Prime Minister, because the socialist parties emerged as the largest "party family" in the elections, and because the New Flemish Alliance lacks a Francophone counterpart.[29][30][31]
Philip Blenkinsop of Reuters stated that the win of the New Flemish Alliance could have negative effects because "Belgium can ill afford drawn-out coalition talks because it has a large debt and any policy paralysis could make the country vulnerable on financial markets that are closely watching a
Coalition formation continued for a record-breaking 541 days, with a government under Elio De Rupo eventually being formed on 6 December 2011 after agreement was reached on the 2012 budget. The
References
- ^ "It's a June 13th election". deredactie.be. 2010-05-05. Archived from the original on 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
- ^ Zuvela, Matt and Connor, Richard (13 June 2010). Party supporting Belgian division claims election victory. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ "Belgium to have new government after world record 541 days". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2023-05-31.
- ^ Mulvey, Stephen (2011-06-13). "Life without government, the Belgian way". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ "Belgium's government falls, future unity on line". Montreal Gazette. 2010-04-26. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ "Belgium's king accepts government's resignation". Irish Examiner. 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ "Belgischer König akzeptiert Rücktritt von Regierungschef" (in German). Nzz.ch. 2010-04-26. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ "Regierung Leterme endgültig gescheitert" (in German). Derstandard.at. 2010-04-26. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ "Verkiezingen 2009 ongrondwettelijk zonder oplossing BHV" (in Dutch). De Morgen. 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- Vrtnieuws.net. 2007-11-13. Archivedfrom the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Zonder oplossing BHV geen grondwettelijke verkiezingen" (in Dutch). De Standaard. 2007-11-13. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ a b "Marc Bossuyt entame sa présidence en force" (in French). La Libre Belgique. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ "Rechters hebben de plicht mee te werken aan verkiezingen" (in Dutch). Hbvl.be. 2010-05-04. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
- ^ "Unity at stake in Belgium vote - Europe". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ 7 MEI 2010. - Koninklijk besluit houdende bijeenroeping van de kiescolleges voor de verkiezing van de federale Wetgevende Kamers en bijeenroeping van de nieuwe federale Wetgevende Kamers
- ^ "Belgian leader steps aside, early election ahead". foxnews.com. Associated Press. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ Bio Eva Brems – Groen! Archived 2010-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2010-06-14
- ^ Jean Quatremer (2010-05-26). "Belgique: les indépendantistes flamands ont le vent en poupe" (in French). Liberation. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Auteur: loa (2009-04-30). "De Standaard Online - N-VA tweede grootste in peiling La Libre-RTL". Standaard.be. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ Elections: Vers l'Avenir polls N-VA first in Flanders (in French), L'Écho, 4
- ^ Elections: N-VA polls at 26%, first party in Flanders (in French), La DH, 27
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ TNS-Media/Dimarso poll ordered by De Standaard and VRT, 4
- ^ IPSOS poll ordered by La Libre Belgique, Francophone results only for Wallonia, the francophone poll for Brussels is not included in these results, June
- ^ "Belgique: victoire large et historique des indépendantistes flamands - Libération". Liberation.fr. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ Senate
- ^ Chamber
- orf.at. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ Fallon, Amy (14 June 2010). Belgian election win for party that wants to split nation. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ Erdrutschsieg für flämische Separatisten. Landslide victory for flemish separatists (in German). Der Standard. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ Belgian elections: who could be next prime minister?. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ Blenkinsop, Philip. "Separatists claim victory in Belgian election". Leaderpost.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ Jackson, Patrick. "Profile: Belgium's Elio Di Rupo". BBC. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
External links
- Tractothèque - Electoral posters and leaflets
- NSD: European Election Database - Belgium Archived 2010-08-12 at the Wayback Machine publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991–2010