Belgian federal election, 2014

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Belgian federal election, 2014
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
←  2010 25 May 2014 (2014-05-25) 2019  →
All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Registered 8,008,776
Turnout 89.37%

 First partySecond partyThird party
  BartDeWever.jpg Elio Di Rupo PES-Kongress 2014.jpg Charles Michel UNDP 2010.jpg
Leader Bart De Wever Elio Di Rupo Charles Michel
Party N-VA PS MR
Leader since200419992011
Leader's seat Antwerp Hainaut Walloon Brabant
Last election27 seats, 17.4%26 seats, 13.7%18 seats, 9.3%
Seats won332320
Seat changeIncrease2.svg6Decrease2.svg 3Increase2.svg 2
Popular vote1,366,414787,165650,290
Percentage20.36%11.67%9.64%
SwingIncrease2.svg 2.86Decrease2.svg 2.03Increase2.svg 0.36
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Beke cropped.jpg Gwendolyn-rutten-1379344162.jpg Tobback cropped.jpg
Leader Wouter Beke Gwendolyn Rutten Bruno Tobback
Party CD&V Open Vld sp.a
Leader since201020122011
Leader's seat Limburg Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant
Last election17 seats, 10.8%13 seats, 8.6%13 seats, 9.2%
Seats won181413
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 1Steady2.svg
Popular vote783,060659,582595,486
Percentage10.85%9.78%8.83%
SwingIncrease2.svg 0.76Increase2.svg 1.14Decrease2.svg 0.41
Belgian federal election 2014 map en.svg
Colours denote the party receiving a plurality of votes per electoral canton
Federal Government before election

Di Rupo
PS-sp.a-CD&V-cdH-Open VLD-MR

Elected Federal Government

Michel
MR-Open VLD-CD&V-N-VA

Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. [1] All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.

Elections in Belgium

Elections in Belgium are organised for legislative bodies only, and not for executive functions. Direct elections take place for the European Parliament, the bicameral Federal Parliament, the Parliaments of the Communities and Regions, the provincial councils, the municipal councils and a few district councils. Voting is mandatory and all elections use proportional representation which in general requires coalition governments.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Lower house of the federal parliament of Belgium

The Chamber of Representatives is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament.

Contents

Date

As part of the state reform adopted 19 December 2013, [2] the date of election will from now on coincide with the European elections, [3] which the Council of the EU has scheduled for 22–25 May 2014. [4] The regional elections in Belgium already constitutionally coincide with the European elections, consequently Belgians will vote for three elections on the same day.

On 25 April 2014, a declaration to amend the Constitution was adopted, formally dissolving parliament and triggering new elections within 40 days. [5]

A Declaration of Revision of the Constitution in Belgium is a declaration that must be passed in order to amend the Belgian Constitution. In accordance with Title VIII of the Constitution, the federal legislative power, which consists of the King and the bicameral Federal Parliament, has the right to declare that there are reasons to amend the constitutional provisions it determines. This is done by means of two Declarations of Revision of the Constitution, one adopted by the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, and one signed by the King and the Federal Government.

Electoral system

The 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives are elected in 11 multi-member constituencies, being the ten provinces and Brussels, with between 4 and 24 seats. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of 5% per constituency. [6] Apportionment of seats is done every ten years, last by royal order of 31 January 2013, based on the population figures of 28 May 2012.

Provinces of Belgium subdivision of Belgium

The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, or Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself.

The D'Hondt method or the Jefferson method is a highest averages method for allocating seats, and is thus a type of party-list proportional representation. The method described is named in the United States after Thomas Jefferson, who introduced the method for proportional allocation of seats in the United States House of Representatives in 1791, and in Europe after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt, who described it in 1878 for proportional allocation of parliamentary seats to the parties. There are two forms: closed list and an open list.

Representatives elected from the five Flemish provinces, Antwerp (24), East Flanders (20), Flemish Brabant (15), Limburg (12) and West Flanders (16), automatically belong to the Dutch-speaking language group in parliament, whereas those elected from the five Walloon provinces, Hainaut (18), Liège (15), Luxembourg (4), Namur (6) and Walloon Brabant (5), form the French-speaking language group. The 15 members elected in Brussels may choose to join either group, though de facto only French-speaking parties reach the threshold.

East Flanders Province of Belgium

East Flanders is a province of Belgium. It borders the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut and West Flanders. It has an area of 2,991 km², divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of 1,408,484. The capital is Ghent.

Flemish Brabant Province of Belgium

Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven. It has an area of 2,106 km² which is divided into two administrative districts containing 65 municipalities.

The 60-member Senate is composed of 50 representatives from the regional and community parliaments, plus 10 co-opted senators proportionally divided among parties based on the result of the federal election.

Senate (Belgium) upper house of the Belgian federal parliament

The Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, it has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and the reform of 2014 following the sixth Belgian state reform. The 2014 elections were the first ones without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is completely composed of members of community and regional parliaments and co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between the different language communities. The Senate now only plays a very minor role in the federal legislative process. Since the reform, it only holds about ten plenary sessions a year.

Voters

All Belgian citizens aged 18 or over are obligated to participate in the election. Foreigners residing in Belgium (regardless of EU citizenship) cannot vote, whereas Belgian citizens living abroad may register to vote. Following the sixth state reform, they can no longer freely choose in which constituency their vote counts; instead the municipality is objectively defined by statutory criteria. Since the previous elections were snap elections, there was more preparation time now, allowing for significantly increased use of the option compared to 2010.

The electoral roll was fixed per 1 March 2014.

20142010difference
Eligible Belgians residing in Belgium7,879,8747,725,463+154,411 (+2.00%)
Eligible Belgians residing abroad128,90242,089+86,813 (+206.26%)
 - voted in-person or by proxy in a municipality in Belgium20,2419,741+10,500 (+107.79%)
 - voted in-person or by proxy in the Belgian diplomatic or consular post where they registered19,08013,089+5,991 (+45.77%)
 - voted by mail89,58119,259+70,322 (+365.14%)
Total8,008,7767,767,552+241,224 (+3.11%)

151 Flemish municipalities and 2 Brussels municipalities voted electronically; the remaining 157 Flemish and 17 Brussels and all 262 Walloon municipalities voted by paper ballot.

Timetable

25 FebruaryStart of the "waiting period" ( sperperiode ) running until the day of the election, during which political propaganda and expenses are strictly regulated
1 MarchThe electoral roll is fixed by municipal authorities
25 AprilThe Parliament adopts a declaration to amend the Constitution, formally dissolving parliament and triggering elections within 40 days [5]
10 MayFinal day for the official announcement of the election and the convocation letter to voters
21 MayPolling day for Belgians residing abroad in the embassies and consular posts
25 MayPolling day (from 8am until 2pm, or until 4pm where voting is done electronically)
19 JuneConstitutive session of the newly elected Chamber of Representatives

Background and reforms since last election

The previous 2010 election resulted in a victory for Flemish nationalist N-VA. The coalition formation stalemate went on for a record-breaking 541 days. Eventually, the negotiating parties agreed upon a sixth Belgian state reform and the Di Rupo Government was finally formed on 6 December 2011 and comprised PS, MR, CD&V, Open VLD, sp.a and cdH.

The state reform has the following consequences for the election in 2014:

Election campaign

The campaign topics largely focused on socio-economic reforms: job creation and unemployment, tax reform, pensions, ... This campaign also featured an unprecedented level of quantified programmes by political parties. For example, the N-VA released its "V plan" and CD&V its "3D plan".

One week before the election day, former CD&V Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene suddenly died while in France. Several debates were cancelled, and CD&V as well as all other Flemish parties suspended their campaign for a few days. [7]

Jewish Museum shooting

On 24 May, the day before the elections, a shooting occurred at the Belgian Jewish Museum in Brussels, with three people reported dead. [8] Self-described anti-Zionist MP Laurent Louis suggested that the attack could be a false flag operation seeking to discredit him and his political party (Debout les Belges, or "Stand Up, Belgians") on the eve of the elections. [9]

Political parties

The primary six Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'. Kamer-1978-2014.png
The primary six Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'.

Current situation

In 2010, ten parties won seats in the Belgian Senate: Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V), Centre Démocrate Humaniste (cdH), Socialistische Partij Anders (sp.a), Parti Socialiste (PS), Open Vld, Mouvement Réformateur (MR), Groen, Ecolo, New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and Vlaams Belang. In the Chamber of Representatives, the People's Party (PP) and Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (LDD) each also won one seat.

During the legislation, the Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) separated from the MR party and are now represented in the Chamber with 3 representatives, but have no Senators. The PP Member of Parliament left the party and became an independent. One Vlaams Belang member of the Chamber and one Vlaams Belang member of the Senate left their party and decided to become independents.

Thus, currently the ten major parties are represented in both the Chamber and the Senate; in addition, LDD and FDF are represented in the Chamber of Representatives.

However, most of the major parties only operate in the Dutch-speaking or in the French-speaking constituencies. Voters who live in the provinces of Antwerp, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Limburg or West Flanders can only vote for CD&V, Groen, N-VA, Open VLD, sp.a and Vlaams Belang, apart from the minor parties – except when a French-speaking party would present a list in one of these provinces, which has not happened except for a FDF and a PP list in Flemish Brabant. In the provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Namur and Walloon Brabant, voters can only vote for cdH, Ecolo, MR and PS, apart from the minor parties – except when a Dutch-speaking party would present a list in one of these provinces, which has not happened in this elections.

In the constituency of Liège, the German-speaking parties CSP, Ecolo, PFF and SP all form one list with their French-speaking counterparts; the name of these lists only mention the French-speaking party. Therefore, the CSP politicians are on the cdH list, the Ecolo ones on the Ecolo list, PFF on the MR list and SP on the PS list. The other German-speaking parties (ProDG and Vivant) do not present a list due to their marginal chance of getting a seat in Parliament.

In the constituency of Brussels-Capital, Ecolo and Groen formed one list under the name Ecolo. [10] CD&V, N-VA, Open Vld, sp.a and Vlaams Belang will each present a single list.

LDD only presented a list in West Flanders. FDF presented a list in all Walloon constituencies, in Brussels-Capital and in Flemish Brabant. PVDA-PTB presented a list in all eleven constituencies of Belgium, making it one of the few parties which are represented in the whole of Belgium.

Main candidates

The following candidates are the first on the respective party list (lijsttrekker / tête de liste) per constituency.

Dutch-speaking constituencies

PartyFlag of Antwerp.svg  Antwerp Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg  East Flanders Flemish Brabant Flag.png  Flemish Brabant Flag of Limburg (Belgium).svg  Limburg Flag of West Flanders.svg  West Flanders Flag of the Brussels-Capital Region.svg  Brussels
Major parties
CD&V Servais Verherstraeten Pieter De Crem Koen Geens Wouter Beke Hendrik Bogaert Benjamin Dalle
Groen Meyrem Almaci Stefaan Van Hecke Anne Dedry Katrijn Conjaerts Wouter De Vriendt Annalisa Gadaleta
(3rd on ECOLO list)
N-VA Bart De Wever Siegfried Bracke Theo Francken Steven Vandeput Brecht Vermeulen Luc Demullier
Open Vld Annemie Turtelboom Alexander De Croo Maggie De Block Patrick Dewael Vincent Van Quickenborne Thomas Ryckalts
sp.a Monica De Coninck Karin Temmerman Hans Bonte Peter Van Velthoven Johan Vande Lanotte Maité Morren
Vlaams Belang Filip Dewinter Barbara Pas Philip Claeys Bert Schoofs Peter Logghe Hilde Roossens
Minor parties
LDDN/AN/AN/AN/A Jean-Marie Dedecker N/A
PVDA+ Peter Mertens Tom De Meester Sander Vandecapelle Kim De Witte Filip Desmet Benjamin Pestieau
BUB Vincent Massaut Bic Verbiest Marie-Luce Lovinfosse Tonnie Brichard Peter Coussens Hans Van de Cauter
Pirate Party Christophe Cop Jonas De Koning N/A Jo Vols N/AN/A

French-speaking constituencies

PartyFlag of Hainaut.svg  Hainaut Flag of the Province of Liege.svg  Liège Unofficial flag of the Province of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg Flag province namur.svg  Namur Drapeau Province BE Brabant Wallon.svg  Walloon Brabant Flag of the Brussels-Capital Region.svg  Brussels
Major parties
cdH Catherine Fonck Melchior Wathelet Benoît Lutgen Benoît Dispa Cédric du Monceau Francis Delpérée
Ecolo Jean-Marc Nollet Muriel Gerkens Cécile Thibaut Georges Gilkinet Marcel Cheron Zakia Khattabi
FDF Christophe Verbist Hugues Lannoy Serge Saintes Monique Felix Amaury Alexandre Olivier Maingain
MR Olivier Chastel Daniel Bacquelaine Dominique Tilmans Sabine Laruelle Charles Michel Didier Reynders
PS Elio Di Rupo Willy Demeyer Philippe Courard Jean-Marc Delizée André Flahaut Laurette Onkelinx
Minor parties
PTB Marco Van Hees Raoul Hedebouw Jonathan Taffarel Thierry Warmoes Liza Lebrun Benjamin Pestieau
PP Mischaël Modrikamen Aldo Carcaci Michel Renquin Nathalie Strubbe Michaël Debast Tatiana Hachimi
BUB Romuald Joly Nicolas Jacquemin Jo Conter Adrien Mertens Dimitri Parée Hans van de Cauter
Pirate Party Paul Bossu Paul Thunissen N/AN/AN/AN/A

Opinion polling

The results of the opinion polls are usually split into separate numbers for the three Belgian regions. Below, they are transposed to national figures.

Date(s)
conducted		Newspaper N-VA PS CD&V MR sp.a Open Vld VB CDH Ecolo Groen Others Lead
15 April 2014 La Libre Belgique 20.6%10.2%10.7%8.4%8.5%8.7%6.4%3.7%3.9%4.9%14.0%9.9% over CD&V
11 October 2013 De Standaard 17.6%–12.0%–8.4%8.7%6.7%––6.3%40.4%5.6% over CD&V
6 September 2013 La Libre Belgique [11] 22.3%10.8%10.9%8.8%7.6%7.5%7.2%4.7%4.7%4.4%11.2%11.4% over CD&V
1 September 2013 Le Soir 19.3%11.3%10.8%8.7%8.0%8.9%7.5%4.5%4.3%4.0%12.5%8.0% over PS
16 June 2013 Le Soir [12] 22.0%10.5%9.9%8.3%8.7%8.3%5.9%4.6%4.7%4.8%12.1%11.5% over PS
25 May 2013 La Libre Belgique [13] 20.6%10.2%10.0%8.9%8.9%8.1%8.1%4.7%5.4%4.1%11.0%10.4% over PS
25 May 2013 De Standaard [14] 20.2%–10.9%–9.3%6.4%6.7%––6.0%40.5%9.3% over CD&V
24 March 2013 Le Soir [15] 21.2%11.8%10.5%8.6%8.6%7.8%6.6%5.0%4.4%4.9%10.7%9.4% over PS
16 March 2013 Het Laatste Nieuws [16] 21.0%–9.4%–8.5%7.5%7.0%––5.2%41.4%11.6% over CD&V
22 February 2013 La Libre Belgique [17] 24.3%10.8%8.8%9.0%9.3%6.2%4.2%4.6%4.7%5.4%12.7%13.5% over PS
14 October 2012 Provincial election 2012 [18] [19] 18.0%11.7%13.5%10.2%8.6%9.2%5.6%6.2%4.8%5.3%6.7%4.5% over CD&V
14 September 2012 De Standaard [20] 22.6%–11.5%–9.0%6.7%5.9%––4.9%39.4%11.1% over CD&V
10 June 2010 Federal election 2010 [21] 17.4%13.7%10.8%9.3%9.2%8.6%7.8%5.5%4.8%4.4%8.4%3.7% over PS

Results

Zetelverdeling-FK-2014.png

At the Flemish side, Vlaams Belang and LDD suffered major losses; their votes went to N-VA, which increased its position as largest party. CD&V, Open Vld and Groen gained slightly as well, while sp.a lost slightly.

At the French-speaking side, PS, cdH and Ecolo suffer losses while MR gained as well as newcomers PTB-GO! and FDF.

e  •  d  Summary of the 25 May 2014 Belgian Chamber of Representatives election results
← 2010 • 2014 • 2019 →
PartyLeader(s)Votes%+/–E.c. %Seats+/–
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Bart De Wever 1,366,41420.262.86 Increase2.svg32.22
33 / 150
6 Increase2.svg
Socialist Party (PS) Elio Di Rupo 787,16511.672.05 Decrease2.svg31.43
23 / 150
3 Decrease2.svg
Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V) Wouter Beke 783,06011.610.77 Increase2.svg18.47
18 / 150
1 Increase2.svg
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) Gwendolyn Rutten 659,5829.781.17 Increase2.svg15.55
14 / 150
1 Increase2.svg
Reformist Movement (MR) Charles Michel 650,2909.640.31 Increase2.svg25.96
20 / 150
2 Increase2.svg
Socialist Party–Differently (sp.a) Bruno Tobback 595,4868.830.36 Decrease2.svg14.04
13 / 150
0 Steady2.svg
Green (Groen) Wouter Van Besien 358,9475.320.94 Increase2.svg8.46
6 / 150
1 Increase2.svg
Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) Benoît Lutgen 336,2814.990.59 Decrease2.svg13.43
9 / 150
0 Steady2.svg
Workers' Party (PTB–GO!/PVDA+)


 Peter Mertens
PVDA+
PTB–GO!
251,289
118,246
132,685		3.72
1.76
1.97		2.17 Increase2.svg—
3.24
5.31
2 / 150


Increase2.svg 2


Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) Gerolf Annemans 247,7463.674.07 Decrease2.svg5.84
3 / 150
9 Decrease2.svg
Ecolo Olivier Deleuze & Emily Hoyos 222,5513.301.50 Decrease2.svg8.89
6 / 150
2 Decrease2.svg
Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) Olivier Maingain 121,4031.80new4.85
2 / 150
2 Increase2.svg
People's Party (Parti Populaire) Mischaël Modrikamen 102,5991.510.24 Increase2.svg4.10
1 / 150
0 Steady2.svg
Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (LDD) Jean-Marie Dedecker 28,4140.421.88 Decrease2.svg0.67
0 / 150
1 Decrease2.svg
Others (parties that received less than 1% of the overall vote)233,8053.47——
0 / 150
0 Steady2.svg
Valid votes6,745,05994.24
Blank and invalid votes412,4395.76
Totals7,157,498100.00——
150 / 150
0 Steady2.svg
Electorate and voter turnout8,001,27889.450.23 Increase2.svg
Source: Federal Portal − Chamber Elections 2014
Notes:
1) E.c. = electoral college (Dutch- and French-speaking)

In detail

Dutch-speaking constituenciesBilingual constituency
Party Antwerp East Flanders Flemish Brabant Limburg West Flanders Brussels
VotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.Seats
N-VA449,53139.3811306,30931.036192,69828.375174,03031.395230,26528.50613,2402.650
CD&V183,63616.094177,17817.954112,25116.533125,96222.723175,66921.7448,1931.640
OPEN VLD116,89210.242178,91118.124170,12825.05468,71312.392111,38813.79213,2942.660
SP.A132,09611.573131,60713.33381,25411.96298,19417.712142,40617.6339,6331.930
GROEN112,4779.85290,1449.13259,0968.70133,2446.00063,6577.881ECOLO
VL. BELANG79,8527.00261,5236.23128,8574.25034,0206.14038,2324.7305,1651.030
PTB/PVDA+51,6384.52026,2942.66012,6641.86014,2532.57013,3971.660PTB/PVDA–GO!
Total1,141,541100.0024987,205100.0020679,125100.0015554,454100.0012807,929100.0016
French-speaking constituenciesBilingual constituency
Party Hainaut Liège Luxembourg Namur Walloon Brabant Brussels
VotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.SeatsVotesPerc.Seats
PS303,08541.049187,93430.00537,37322.02183,36127.83251,35921.411124,05324.865
MR153,30420.765158,06225.23541,34624.36184,78828.31297,74140.753115,04923.054
CDH76,81210.40281,78913.05256,70233.41248,13516.07126,33510.98046,5089.322
ECOLO43,4895.89156,9029.08113,4717.94029,1869.74127,35611.40152,14710.452
PTB/PVDA–GO!38,1945.17150,6098.0814,0032.36014,5594.8606,4492.69019,1423.840
FDF14,3821.95013,9172.2202,8111.6608,3672.79011,1984.67055,32311.082
PP32,1584.35032,2375.1516,9804.11013,0294.3509,5443.9808,6511.730
Total738,496100.0018601,826100.0015169,719100.004299,512100.006239,869100.005499,082100.0015

Government formation

On 27 May, King Philippe nominated Bart De Wever (N-VA) as informateur , meaning he is tasked with finding enough points of agreement for a possible coalition. [22]

After five months of discussions, a centre-right coalition of four parties (CD&V, Open Vld, MR and N-VA) came to agreement on 7 October with Walloon Charles Michel as prime minister. Yet it is a Flanders-focused coalition that excludes Socialists from the government for the first time in 26 years. [23] Michel would be Belgium's youngest prime minister after the 28 hours of discussions over achieving a balanced budget by 2018. The announcement was made by party colleague and Budget Minister Olivier Chastel on Twitter: "Charles Michel becomes prime minister." [24]

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Elections for the Federal Parliament were held in Belgium on 13 June 2010, during the midst of the 2007-11 Belgian political crisis. After the fall of the previous Leterme II Government over the withdrawal of Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats from the government the King dissolved the legislature and called new elections. The New Flemish Alliance, led by Bart De Wever, emerged as the plurality party with 27 seats, just one more than the francophone Socialist Party, led by Elio Di Rupo, which was the largest party in the Wallonia region and Brussels. It took a world record 541 days until a government was formed, resulting in a government led by Di Rupo.

2012 Belgian local elections elections of the Belgian provincial, municipal and district councils

The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2012 took place on 14 October. As with the previous 2006 elections, these are no longer organised by the Belgian federal state but instead by the respective regions:

The sixth state reform in the federal kingdom of Belgium is the result after the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation, with 541 days of negotiations the longest ever in Belgium and possibly the world. The agreement was made among the Christian-democratic CD&V and cdH, social-democratic sp.a and PS, liberal Open Vld and MR and ecologist Groen! and Ecolo, each respectively a Flemish and French-speaking party. The first six parties, therefore not including the green parties, then formed the Di Rupo I Government. The Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance, which became the largest after the 2010 elections, is notably not part of the agreement nor of the government coalition.

Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.

Following the simultaneous federal elections and regional elections of 25 May 2014, negotiations started to form a new Federal Government as well as new regional governments: a Flemish, Walloon, French Community and Brussels Government. A Government of the German-speaking Community was formed only a few days after the elections.

2019 Belgian federal election election for the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium on 26 May 2019

The 2019 Belgian federal election will take place on the same day as the 2019 European Parliament elections and the 2019 Belgian regional elections, being 26 May 2019, unless snap elections are called.

2018 Belgian local elections elections of the Belgian provincial, municipal and district councils

The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2018 took place on Sunday 14 October 2018. They are organised by the respective regions:

The 2019 Belgian regional elections will take place on Sunday 26 May, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election as well as the Belgian federal election unless snap federal elections are called.

References

  1. ↑ "Europa bekrachtigt 25 mei als Belgische verkiezingsdatum". HLN. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. 1 2 Proposal for a revision of the Belgian Constitution, senate.be
  4. ↑ COUNCIL DECISION 2013/299/EU, Euratom of 14 June 2013 fixing the period for the eighth election of representatives to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, published on 21 June 2013 by the Official Journal of the European Union, L 169/69
  5. 1 2 25 AVRIL 2014. - Déclaration de révision de la Constitution, Belgian Official Journal
  6. ↑ Electoral system IPU
  7. ↑ "CD&V schort campagne op na overlijden van Dehaene". deredactie.be. 15 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Three die in Brussels shooting at Jewish Museum". deredactie.be. 24 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Laurent Louis (24 May 2014). "Facebook post by Laurent LOUIS".
  10. ↑ "Groen en Ecolo op één federale lijst in Brussel". deredactie.be. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Baromètre: La N-VA gagne 2.7% en Flandre!". Lalibre.be. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Le PS en net recul en Wallonie, la N-VA toujours loin devant en Flandre". les documents du Soir. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "La N-VA perd du poids, le PS en petite forme" . Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "N-VA krijgt een tik". De Standaard. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Grand baromètre: la N-VA recule de trois points". lesoir.be. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "CD&V beperkt de schade". HLN. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Baromètre politique RTBF-La Libre: indécrottable N-VA". RTBF Info. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "2012 Vlaanderenkiest". Vlaanderenkiest.be. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  19. ↑ Archived 28 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine .
  20. ↑ "Open VLD op dieptepunt". De Standaard. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  21. ↑ Archived 9 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine .
  22. ↑ "Bart De Wever nommé informateur par le Roi". LaLibre.be. 27 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Belgium agrees to form coalition government". DW.DE. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Belgium on course for government led by youngest PM". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
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