Parliamentary election in Belgium 1999
The 1999 election to the Belgian Parliament was held on June 13, 1999.
Parties
The high voter turnout of over 90% is due to the compulsory voting in Belgium. All four parties involved in the government lost seats. The Walloon Socialists ( PS ) lost two and the Flemish Socialists ( SP ) 5 seats. The Walloon Christian Democrats ( PSC ) lost two seats, the Flemish Christian Democrats ( CVP ) lost seven seats.
The Liberals saw slight gains and became the strongest force in the Chamber of Deputies. The Walloon Liberals PRL - FDF kept the number of seats with a small loss of votes, the Flemish Liberals ( VLD ) gained 2 seats.
The clear winners were the two green parties. The Walloon Ecolo won five additional seats, the Flemish Greens Agalev gained four seats.
The right-wing populist Vlaams Blok (VB) won four seats, the Volksunie (VU-ID) improved by three seats. The far-right FN lost one of its two seats.
Chamber (lower house)
Suffrage
The right to vote have all Belgian nationals than 18 years old, the older, since 1998 also Belgians residing abroad may participate in the parliamentary elections. The electoral rights have Belgian nationals residing in Belgium and a minimum age of 21 years.
Belgium was divided into twenty constituencies in the 1999 election. The number of mandates per constituency is proportional to the number of inhabitants. The constituency of Bruxelles-Hal-Vilvorde had the largest number of MPs with 22, and the lowest number was Huy-Waremme with two MPs. Within the constituencies, the mandates were distributed to the lists according to a proportional representation system, a threshold of 5% was only introduced in 2002.
Results
Eleven parties won seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
The official final result:
| Eligible voters | 7,343,464 | ||||
| votes cast | 6,650,015 | 90.56% | |||
| valid votes | 6,214,074 | 93.44% | |||
| be right | proportion of | ± to 1995 | Seats | ± to 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VLD | 888.861 | 14.30% | +1.15% | 23 | +2 |
| CVP | 875.455 | 14.09% | −3.09% | 22nd | −7 |
| PS | 631,653 | 10.16% | −1.71% | 19th | −2 |
| PRL - FDF | 630.219 | 10.14% | −0.12% | 18th | ± 0 |
| VB | 613,399 | 9.87% | + 2.04% | 15th | +4 |
| SP | 593.372 | 9.55% | −3.01% | 14th | −6 |
| Ecolo | 457.281 | 7.36% | + 3.35% | 11 | +5 |
| AGALEV | 434,449 | 6.99% | + 2.56% | 9 | +4 |
| PSC | 365.318 | 5.88% | −1.85% | 10 | −2 |
| VU ID | 345,576 | 5.56% | + 0.89% | 8th | +3 |
| FN | 90.401 | 1.45% | −0.83% | 1 | −1 |
- ↑ When elected in 1999 as VU-ID, 1995 as VU
Senate (upper house)
In addition to the lower house deputies, 40 out of a total of 71 senators were directly elected. As in the European Parliament elections, the electorate was divided into two electoral colleges: the French-speaking college elected 15 senators and the Dutch-speaking 25 senators. In the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde special constituency, the citizens themselves decided which college to choose by choosing a French-speaking or Dutch-speaking party wanted to belong. The Flemish and Walloon parliaments elect ten senators each, the parliament of the German-speaking community appoints one senator. Ten senators are co-opted, six from the Flemish-speaking senators and four from the French-speaking senators. At least one Flemish-speaking and six French-speaking senators must come from Brussels.
As in the Chamber, Socialists and Christian Democrats lost votes in both parts of the country. The Socialists lost 3 Senate seats, the Christian Democrats one. The Liberals recorded slight gains with no change in the number of seats, while the Greens made significant gains and doubled the number of Senate seats to six. The Vlaams Blok gained a seat in the Senate.
The official final result:
| Eligible voters | 7,343,466 | ||||
| votes cast | 6,650,796 | 90.57% | |||
| valid votes | 6,194,371 | 93.14% | |||
| be right | proportion of | ± to 1995 | Seats | ± to 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Electoral College | |||||
| VLD | 952.116 | 15.37% | + 2.08% | 6th | ± 0 |
| CVP | 913.508 | 14.75% | −2.10% | 6th | −1 |
| VB | 583.208 | 9.42% | +1.68% | 4th | +1 |
| SP | 550.657 | 8.89% | −4.34% | 4th | −2 |
| AGALEV | 438.931 | 7.09% | + 3.36% | 3 | +2 |
| VU ID | 317.830 | 5.13% | −0.18% | 2 | ± 0 |
| French electoral college | |||||
| PRL - FDF | 654.961 | 10.57% | −0.66% | 5 | ± 0 |
| PS | 597,890 | 9.65% | −3.11% | 4th | −1 |
| Ecolo | 458,658 | 7.40% | + 3.08% | 3 | +1 |
| PSC | 374.002 | 6.04% | −1.21% | 3 | ± 0 |
- ↑ When elected in 1999 as VU-ID, 1995 as VU
Government formation
The Dehaene II government , made up of socialists (PS and SP) and Christian Democrats (CVP and PSC), lost its majority, losing 17 of its 82 seats. Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene resigned on June 14th. The new government of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD), the so-called Rainbow Coalition consisting of socialists (PS and SP), liberals (PRL-FDF and VLD) and Greens (Ecolo and Agalev) was sworn in on July 12th.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Matthias Trefs: Belgium. In: Dieter Nohlen , Philipp Stöver (Ed.): Elections in Europe. A data handbook. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2010, ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7 , pp. 269-319.
- ↑ Résultat Election Chambre 13-06-1999 Royaume. Belgian Federal Government, accessed November 15, 2019 (French).
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↑ Résultat Election Senate 13-06-1999 Royaume. Belgian Federal Government, accessed November 15, 2019 (French). Result of the Élection Sénat 13-06-1999 Collège électoral néerlandais. Belgian Federal Government, accessed November 15, 2019 (French). Résultat Élection Sénat Collège électoral français. Belgian Federal Government, accessed on 10 November 2019 (French).
- ↑ The Fischer World Almanac 2000 . Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-72000-1 , Sp. 110 .