2003 Belgian federal election explained

Country:

Belgium

Previous Election:

1999

Next Election:

2007

Module:

Embed:

yes

Election Name:

Chamber of Representatives

Seats For Election:

All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

Majority Seats:

Leader1:

Guy Verhofstadt

Party1:

VLD

Last Election1:

Seats1:

Percentage1:

15.36

Leader2:

Johan Vande Lanotte

Party2:

sp.a–spirit

Last Election2:

Seats2:

Percentage2:

14.91

Leader3:

Stefaan De Clerck

Party3:

Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams

Last Election3:

Seats3:

Percentage3:

13.25

Leader4:

Elio Di Rupo

Party4:

Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

Last Election4:

Seats4:

Percentage4:

13.02

Leader5:

Frank Vanhecke

Party5:

Vlaams Blok

Last Election5:

Seats5:

Percentage5:

11.68

Leader6:

Antoine Duquesne

Party6:

Mouvement Réformateur

Last Election6:

Seats6:

Percentage6:

11.40

Leader7:

Joëlle Milquet

Party7:

Centre démocrate humaniste

Last Election7:

Seats7:

Percentage7:

5.47

Party8:

New Flemish Alliance

Leader8:

Geert Bourgeois

Last Election8:

New

Seats8:

Percentage8:

3.06

Party9:

Ecolo

Leader9:

Philippe Defeyt
Évelyne Huytebroeck
Marc Hordies

Last Election9:

Seats9:

Percentage9:

3.06

Party10:

National Front (Belgium)

Leader10:

Daniel Féret

Last Election10:

Seats10:

Percentage10:

1.98

Module:

Embed:	yes
Election Name:	Senate
Seats For Election:	40 of 71 seats in the Senate
Leader1:	Johan Vande Lanotte
Party1:	sp.a–spirit
Last Election1:	4
Seats1:	7
Percentage1:	15.47
Leader2:	Guy Verhofstadt
Party2:	VLD
Last Election2:	6
Seats2:	7
Percentage2:	15.38
Leader3:	Elio Di Rupo
Party3:	Parti Socialiste (Belgium)
Last Election3:	4
Seats3:	6
Percentage3:	12.84
Leader4:	Stefaan De Clerck
Party4:	Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams
Last Election4:	6
Seats4:	6
Percentage4:	12.71
Leader5:	Antoine Duquesne
Party5:	Mouvement Réformateur
Last Election5:	5
Seats5:	5
Percentage5:	12.15
Leader6:	Frank Vanhecke
Party6:	Vlaams Blok
Last Election6:	4
Seats6:	5
Percentage6:	11.32
Leader7:	Joëlle Milquet
Party7:	Centre démocrate humaniste
Last Election7:	3
Seats7:	2
Percentage7:	5.54
Party8:	Ecolo
Leader8:	Philippe Defeyt Évelyne Huytebroeck Marc Hordies
Last Election8:	3
Seats8:	1
Percentage8:	3.19
Party9:	National Front (Belgium)
Leader9:	Daniel Féret
Last Election9:	0
Seats9:	1
Percentage9:	2.25
Federal Government
Posttitle:	Federal Government after election
Before Election:	Verhofstadt I Government
After Election:	Verhofstadt II Government

Federal elections were held in Belgium on 18 May 2003, the first under a new electoral code. One of the novelties was an electoral threshold of 5, which has cost many seats to the N-VA and the Green parties, Ecolo and Agalev. The Belgian Socialists recovered well; the liberal and nationalist parties increased their vote as well.

The Flemish Greens lost all their seats. The Greens were attacked on two fronts: some, including their coalition partners, accused them of being too fundamentalist, while others said that they had betrayed their ideals. The resignation of a Walloon green minister (Isabelle Durant), one week before the elections, probably didn't do them much good either. Although it was predicted in some opinion polls, the gains of the Front National were surprising, considering that it seldom appeared in the media. The most important trend was the recovery of the Flemish social-democrats, led by the popular (some would say populist) Steve Stevaert. The fact that Elio Di Rupo was learning Dutch caused rumours that he hoped to become prime minister, if the social-democrats would turn out to be the largest political family.

Themes that probably influenced the election results in some way were the government's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the controversy around the nuisance around the airport of Zaventem, the controversy surrounding the banning of tobacco publicity, and unemployment, but a general dominating theme was lacking.

2003 Belgian federal election explained

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Further reading