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2024 Belgian federal election

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2024 Belgian federal election
Belgium
← 2019 9 June 2024 (2024-06-09) 2029 →

All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout88.45%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
N-VA Bart De Wever 16.71 24 −1
Vlaams Belang Tom Van Grieken 13.77 20 +2
MR Georges-Louis Bouchez 10.26 20 +6
PVDA-PTB Raoul Hedebouw 9.86 15 +3
PS Paul Magnette 8.04 16 −4
Vooruit Melissa Depraetere 8.11 13 +4
CD&V Sammy Mahdi 7.98 11 −1
LE Maxime Prévot 6.77 14 +9
Open Vld Tom Ongena 5.45 7 −5
Groen Nadia Naji &
Jeremie Vaneeckhout
4.65 6 −2
Ecolo Rajae Maouane &
Jean-Marc Nollet [nl]
2.93 3 −10
DéFI François De Smet [nl] 1.20 1 −1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Federal Government before Federal Government after
De Croo Government TBA

Federal elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 2024.[1] The Chamber of Representatives received 150 members with five-year terms. European and regional elections took place on the same day.[2]

Background

[edit]

After a lengthy government formation spanning 494 days, the 2019 Belgian federal election eventually resulted in the formation of a government led by prime minister Alexander De Croo, consisting of a so-called Vivaldi coalition. The government replaced a government led by Sophie Wilmès, which was a caretaker minority government with emergency plenary powers given by the opposition to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak in Belgium.[3]

Electoral system

[edit]

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.[4] Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of 5% per constituency.[5]

The 87 representatives elected from the five Flemish Region provinces, Antwerp (24), East Flanders (20), Flemish Brabant (15), Limburg (12) and West Flanders (16), automatically belonged to the Dutch-speaking language group in parliament, whereas those 47 elected from the five provinces of Wallonia, Hainaut (17), Liège (14), Luxembourg (4), Namur (7) and Walloon Brabant (5), formed the French-speaking language group. The 16 members elected in Brussels can choose to join either group. Apportionment of seats is done every ten years in accordance with population data, last by royal order in 2022, when Brussels and Namur each gained a seat while Hainaut and Liège lost a seat.[6]

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.[4]

All Belgian citizens aged 18 or over are obligated to participate in the election. Non-Belgian citizens residing in Belgium (regardless of EU citizenship) cannot vote, whereas Belgian citizens living abroad can register to vote.[7]

Voting is done electronically in all 19 Brussels and nine German-speaking municipalities, as well as in 159 Flemish municipalities. Voting is done by paper ballot in 141 Flemish municipalities as well as in all 253 (non-German-speaking) Walloon municipalities.[5]

Timetable

[edit]
9 February Start of the "waiting period" (sperperiode) running until the day of the election, during which political propaganda and expenses are strictly regulated
1 April The electoral roll is fixed by municipal authorities and available for scrutiny[7]
13 April Deadline for submitting candidate lists[8]
TBD The Parliament is formally dissolved
25 May Final day for the official announcement of the election and the convocation letter to voters[7]
5 June Polling day for Belgians residing abroad in the embassies and consular posts[7]
9 June Polling day (from 8am until 2pm, or until 4pm where voting is done electronically)
10 July Constitutive session of the newly elected Chamber of Representatives

Parties

[edit]

Sitting

[edit]

The following parties running had seats in the Chamber of Representatives prior to the elections.

Party Ideology Political position Leader 2019 result Status
N-VA Conservatism
Flemish nationalism
Centre-right to
right-wing
Bart De Wever
25 / 150
Opposition
Vlaams Belang Right-wing populism
Flemish nationalism
Right-wing to far-right Tom Van Grieken
18 / 150
Opposition
PS Social democracy Centre-left Paul Magnette
20 / 150
Governing coalition
Vooruit Social democracy Centre-left Melissa Depraetere
9 / 150
Governing coalition
Reformist Movement Liberalism Centre-right Georges-Louis Bouchez
14 / 150
Governing coalition
Open Vld Liberalism Centre-right Tom Ongena
12 / 150
Governing coalition
Ecolo Green politics Centre-left Rajae Maouane and Jean-Marc Nollet [fr]
13 / 150
Governing coalition
Groen Green politics Centre-left Nadia Naji and Jeremie Vaneeckhout
8 / 150
Governing coalition
Christian Democratic and Flemish Christian democracy Centre to centre-right Sammy Mahdi
12 / 150
Governing coalition
Workers' Party of Belgium Socialism
Marxism
Left-wing to far-left Raoul Hedebouw
12 / 150
Opposition
Les Engagés Social liberalism Centre Maxime Prévot
5 / 150
Opposition
DéFI Regionalism
social liberalism
Centre to centre-right François De Smet [fr]
2 / 150
Opposition

Outside

[edit]
Party Ideology Political position Constituency
Blanco Party Single-issue Centrism Flemish and Walloon
Belgische Unie – Union Belge Royalism

Unitarism

Centrism Flemish and Walloon
L'Unie Unitarism Centrism Flemish and Walloon
Alternatief 2024 Participatory democracy Centrism Only in Flemish Brabant
BoerBurgerBelangen Agrarianism Centre-right Flemish
DierAnimal Animal welfare

Environmentalism

Centre-left Antwerp
Gezond Verstand Liberalism

Anti-Flemish independence

Centre-right East Flanders
Volt Social liberalism

European federalism

Centre-left All
VoorU Liberalism

Libertarianism

Right Flemish
Collectif Citoyen Participatory democracy Centre Walloon
Chez Nous Anti-immigration

National conservatism

Far-right Walloon
Team Fouad Ahidar Minority interests Centre Brussels
Agora Participatory democracy Centre Walloon
Lutte Ouvrière Trotskyism Far-left Walloon

Lead candidates

[edit]

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

Dutch-speaking constituencies

[edit]
Party  Antwerp  East Flanders  Flemish Brabant  Limburg  West Flanders  Brussels
CD&V[9] Annelies Verlinden Vincent Van Peteghem Sammy Mahdi Nawal Farih [nl] Nathalie Muylle [nl] Together with Les Engagés
Groen[9] Meyrem Almaci Petra De Sutter Dieter Van Besien [nl] Dirk Opsteyn Matti Vandemaele [nl] Together with Ecolo
N-VA[9] Bart De Wever Anneleen Van Bossuyt Theo Francken Steven Vandeput Jean-Marie Dedecker Toby De Backer
Open Vld[9] Paul Van Tigchelt Alexander De Croo Irina De Knop [nl] Steven Coenegrachts Vincent Van Quickenborne Together with MR
PVDA[9] Peter Mertens Robin Tonniau Kemal Bilmez Kim De Witte Natalie Eggermont Together with PTB
Vlaams Belang[9] Lode Vereeck Barbara Pas Britt Huybrechts Annick Ponthier Wouter Vermeersch Jan Verleysen
Vooruit[9] Jinnih Beels Joris Vandenbroucke Frank Vandenbroucke Funda Oru Melissa Depraetere Together with PS
Volt[10] Jasper Coosemans Emeric Massaut
VoorU[9] Frank Wouters Michael Verstraeten Els Ampe [nl] Dirk Vijnck [nl] Ivan Sabbe [nl] Rachid El Hajui
l'Unie Alexandra Bernaert Charles de Groot

French-speaking constituencies

[edit]

Hainaut will feature three party chairmen (Bouchez for MR, Magnette for PS and Nollet for Ecolo) as well as popular ex-MR ex-minister Crucke for Les Engagés. In Namur, three federal deputy prime ministers will run against each other (Dermagne for PS, Gilkinet for Ecolo and Clarinval for MR).[11] The right-wing Flemish nationalist N-VA party is also fielding candidates in Wallonia for the first time.[12]

Party  Hainaut  Liège  Luxembourg  Namur  Walloon Brabant  Brussels
DéFI[9] Mikhaël Jacquemain Freddy Debarsy Didier Serteyn Julien Lemoine Pierre Pinte François De Smet [fr]
Ecolo[9] Jean-Marc Nollet [fr] Sarah Schlitz Olivier Vajda [fr] Georges Gilkinet Simon Moutquin [fr] Zakia Khattabi
Les Engagés[9] Jean-Luc Crucke [fr] Vanessa Matz Benoît Lutgen Maxime Prévot Yves Coppieters [fr] Elisabeth Degryse [fr]
MR[9] Georges-Louis Bouchez Pierre-Yves Jeholet [fr] Benoît Piedboeuf David Clarinval Florence Reuter Sophie Wilmès
PS[9] Paul Magnette Frédéric Daerden Philippe Courard Pierre-Yves Dermagne Dimitri Legasse [fr] Caroline Désir
PTB[9] Sofie Merckx Raoul Hedebouw Farah Jacquet Amaury Laridon Nabil Boukili
N-VA[13][9] Michel De Wolf Evelien Barbieux Anne-Laure Mouligneaux Laurence Genot Drieu Godefridi Toby De Backer
Chez Nous Jérôme Munier Noa Pozzi Nicolas Dielman Eric Doucet Michaël Lefèvere
l'Unie Andrew Scrivener Charles de Groot

Retiring incumbents

[edit]

The following members of the federal parliament are not standing for election in June 2024.

Opinion polls

[edit]

In the run up to the 2024 Belgian federal election, various organisations carried out opinion polling to gauge voting intentions in Belgium. The date range for these polls were from a few months after the 2019 Belgian federal election,[20] held on 25 May 2019, to shortly before the 2024 Belgian federal election.[21] The results of nationwide polls were usually numerically split into the three Belgian regions: Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia.[22][23] The federal election was part of a group of elections which also included the regional elections and the European elections.[24] Some polls might have undefined voting intentions without differentiating between the elections.[citation needed]

Flanders

[edit]

Wallonia

[edit]

Brussels

[edit]

Results

[edit]

The results saw the New Flemish Alliance remain the largest party in parliament, while the incumbent coalition government led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and his Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats held on to its majority by only one seat, despite the latter party falling to ninth place in the election tally. The Reformist Movement emerged as the largest party in Brussels and Wallonia.[25]

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
New Flemish Alliance1,167,06116.71+0.6824–1
Vlaams Belang961,60113.77+1.8220+2
Reformist Movement716,93410.26+2.7020+6
Workers' Party of Belgium688,3699.86+1.2315+3
Vooruit566,4368.11+1.4013+4
Socialist Party561,6028.04–1.4216–4
Christian Democratic and Flemish557,3927.98–0.9111–1
Les Engagés472,7556.77+3.0714+9
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats380,6595.45–3.097–5
Groen324,6084.65–1.466–2
Ecolo204,4382.93–3.223–10
DéFI84,0241.20–1.021–1
Blanco Party [nl]75,6831.08New0New
Chez Nous64,0580.92New0New
Voor U [nl]43,3460.62New0New
Citizen Collective35,7060.51+0.2000
Team Fouad Ahidar24,8260.36New0New
Belgische Unie – Union Belge15,7800.23+0.1300
DierAnimal10,3410.15–0.5600
Volt Belgium7,2450.10+0.0800
Lutte Ouvrière [nl]6,5520.09+0.0100
L'Unie5,6400.08New0New
Reprise en Main Citoyenne4,0250.06New0New
Agora3,4730.05New0New
Gezond Verstand2,3520.03New0New
Total6,984,906100.001500
Valid votes6,984,90694.37
Invalid/blank votes416,5775.63
Total votes7,401,483100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,368,02988.45
Source: IBZ

Senate

[edit]

Since the sixth state reform of 2011, the Senate is no longer directly elected. The regional parliaments elect 50 senators based on the results of the concurrent regional elections (the Flemish Parliament elects 29, the Parliament of the French Community elects ten, the Walloon Parliament elects eight, the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region elects two Francophone senators and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community elects one). The elected senators in turn co-opt 10 senators (six Dutch-speaking and four Francophone), who are allocated based on the preceding election results of the Chamber of Representatives, making a total of 60 senators.[4][26]

The distribution of seats among parties resulted as following:[27][28][29]

PartySeats
ElectedCo-optedTotal+/–
New Flemish Alliance8210+1
Vlaams Belang718+1
Reformist Movement718+1
Workers' Party516+1[a]
Socialist Party516–1
Vooruit40[b]4+1
Christian Democratic and Flemish4150
Les Engagés415+3
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats213–2
Groen202–2
Ecolo101–4
ProDG101+1
Perspectives. Freedom. Progress.000–1
Total50959–1

Aftermath

[edit]

Following the release of the election results, Alexander De Croo announced his resignation as Prime Minister effective on 10 June. After this, he will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new federal government is formed. Tom Ongena also announced his resignation as party leader, and ruled out Open Vld's participation in the next government. Of the French-speaking parties, François De Smet, chair of Défi, and Paul Magnette, president of PS, also submitted their resignation, though Magnette's resignation was rejected by the party's board.[30]

The New Flemish Alliance's (N-VA) Bart De Wever claimed victory. Even though Vlaams Belang came second, its leader Tom Van Grieken expressed disappointment, as the party was expected to overtake N-VA to become the biggest in Flanders. In Wallonia, Reformist Movement's (MR) president Georges-Louis Bouchez emphasized the electorate's willingness for change, after his party gained more votes than PS for the first time in decades.[25][31]

According to political analysts, the most obvious federal coalition would consist of the right-wing N-VA and MR, and centre-left Vooruit, with the centrist CD&V and Les Engagés parties to reach at least 76 seats. Other coalitions are ruled out, following the decision of Open Vld and PS to be part of the opposition. Vlaams Belang is not expected to be part of the government at any level, due to the cordon sanitaire.[32][33]

Exploratory coalition talks started on 10 June, the day after the elections. As is tradition, party leaders are individually invited to an audience with the King, starting with the biggest parties.[34] On 11 June, the MR and Les Engagés announced a preliminary agreement to form a government in the Walloon parliament, following the regional elections. As part of the agreement, the two parties would form a partnership during government formation talks at the federal level.[35]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The elected members included three Francophone senators and two Dutch-speaking ones; the co-opted member was Francophone.
  2. ^ Due to its opposition to the Senate as an institution, Vooruit refused to co-opt a senator.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Quand auront lieu les prochaines elections". IBZ Elections. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ Belga (17 May 2023). "Kogel is door de kerk: op zondag 9 juni 2024 trekken we naar de stembus". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  3. ^ Arnoudt, Rik (16 March 2020). "Premier Sophie Wilmès (MR) vraagt morgen het vertrouwen in de Kamer". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (23–26 January 2024). Federal Elections, 9 June 2024 (PDF) (Report). p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 2024, p. 5.
  6. ^ "Brussel krijgt extra volksvertegenwoordiger bij verkiezingen 2024". BRUZZ. 23 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 2024, p. 6.
  8. ^ Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 2024, p. 7.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Candidates 2024". Volt België. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Ces combats qui vont animer les élections du 9 juin". L'Echo. 13 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  12. ^ Clapson, Colin (4 December 2023). "N-VA to stand in Wallonia: "Belgium is not a democracy"". vrtnws.be. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  13. ^ "EXCLUSIEF. N-VA wil in Wallonië opkomen". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2 December 2023. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "Deze politici kondigden al aan dat ze niet terugkeren in het Parlement". De Standaard. 21 April 2023. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d Heynderickx, Hannes (25 October 2023). "Kopstuk na kopstuk begeeft zich naar de uitgang: de groene leegloop uit de Kamer". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Groen-kopstuk Wouter De Vriendt past voor verkiesbare plaats bij de verkiezingen van juni 2024". VRT NWS (in Dutch). 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Kristof Calvo (Groen) wordt lijstduwer van zusterpartij Ecolo in Henegouwen: "Ik ambieer geen zetel"". VRT NWS. 22 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  18. ^ Steven Creyelman (Vlaams Belang) trekt zich terug als kandidaat voor de verkiezingen, VRT NWS, 29 February 2024
  19. ^ Sellam, Khalid (19 April 2024). "Afscheid is nu definitief: Meryame Kitir heeft geen lidkaart meer van Vooruit". VRT NWS. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  20. ^ "De Grote Peiling. Vlaams Belang wipt over N-VA naar eerste plaats, dramatische score voor cd&v en sp.a". Het Laatste Nieuws (Dutch). 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  21. ^ "DE LAATSTE PEILING. Vlaams Belang blijft de grootste, voor N-VA en Vooruit" (in Dutch). 6 June 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  22. ^ "DE GROTE PEILING. Vlaams Belang blijft grootste partij van Vlaanderen, Vooruit profiteert van Conner-effect" (in Dutch). 24 May 2024.
  23. ^ "Découvrez les résultats de notre sondage : le Vlaams Belang toujours plus haut, le MR en grande forme à Bruxelles" (in French). 25 April 2024. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  24. ^ Right-wing New Flemish Alliance wins Belgian 'Super Sunday' elections Archived 12 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine, Euronews
  25. ^ a b O'Carroll, Lisa. "Belgium headed for new government as PM set to resign after general election". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Brochure of the Senate" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Senate seat distribution" (PDF) (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  28. ^ Matthijs, Herman (14 June 2024). "De Senaat: wat nu?". Doorbraak (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Flemish nationalists largest party in Belgian Senate". 12 June 2024. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Post-Belgian Elections Live: PS leader tries to resign, MR wants to form government soon". 10 June 2024. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  31. ^ Haeck, Pieter; Gijs, Camille; Jack, Victor (9 June 2024). "Belgium drifts to the right — but not far right". Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  32. ^ Walker, Lauren (10 June 2024). "Long road ahead or quick decisions: What possible coalitions can be formed?". Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  33. ^ ""Federal coalition puzzle can be solved quickly, but N-VA will have to make choices"". 11 June 2024. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  34. ^ Chini, Maïthé (9 June 2024). "Now what? How Belgium's government formation works". Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Post-Elections Live (day two): Wallonia reaches government agreement". 11 June 2024. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.