2003 Belgian federal election

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2003 Belgian federal election
Belgium
← 1999 18 May 2003 (2003-05-18) 2007 →
Chamber of Representatives

All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader % Seats +/–
VLD Guy Verhofstadt 15.36 25 +2
sp.aspirit Johan Vande Lanotte 14.91 23 +9
CD&V Stefaan De Clerck 13.25 21 −1
PS Elio Di Rupo 13.02 25 +6
VB Frank Vanhecke 11.68 18 +3
MR Antoine Duquesne 11.40 24 +6
cdH Joëlle Milquet 5.47 8 −2
N-VA Geert Bourgeois 3.06 1 New
Ecolo Philippe Defeyt
Évelyne Huytebroeck
Marc Hordies
3.06 4 −7
FN Daniel Féret 1.98 1 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Senate

40 of 71 seats in the Senate
Party Leader % Seats +/–
sp.aspirit Johan Vande Lanotte 15.47 7 +3
VLD Guy Verhofstadt 15.38 7 +1
PS Elio Di Rupo 12.84 6 +2
CD&V Stefaan De Clerck 12.71 6 0
MR Antoine Duquesne 12.15 5 0
VB Frank Vanhecke 11.32 5 +1
cdH Joëlle Milquet 5.54 2 −1
Ecolo Philippe Defeyt
Évelyne Huytebroeck
Marc Hordies
3.19 1 −2
FN Daniel Féret 2.25 1 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Federal Government before Federal Government after election
Verhofstadt I Government 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.

Results[edit]

Chamber of Representatives[edit]

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten1,009,22315.36+1.0625+2
Socialistische Partij AndersSpirit979,75014.91+5.3723+9
Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams870,74913.25–0.8421–1
Parti Socialiste855,99213.02+2.8625+6
Vlaams Blok767,60511.68+1.7218+3
Mouvement Réformateur748,95211.40+1.2624+6
Centre démocrate humaniste359,6605.47–0.408–2
New Flemish Alliance201,3993.06New1New
Ecolo201,1183.06–4.294–7
Agalev162,2052.47–4.520–9
National Front130,0121.98+0.5310
Vivant81,3371.24–0.8600
Chrétiens démocrates francophones38,3460.58New0New
Liberal Appeal29,8680.45New0New
Rassemblement Wallonie France25,4160.39New0New
Workers' Party of Belgium20,8250.32–0.1800
RESIST10,0590.15New0New
Belgian Union10,0340.15New0New
Parti citoyenneté et prospérité8,2580.13New0New
Mouvement socialiste8,1160.12New0New
Communist Party of Belgium6,7590.10–0.2700
New Belgian Front6,7360.10–0.2600
Maria6,4400.10New0New
France5,6680.09–0.0300
Nation4,1900.06New0New
VeiligBlauw3,2370.05New0New
Left Socialist Party2,9290.04New0New
Communist PartyRDS2,5220.04New0New
CHOPE2,4300.04New0New
RDSCommunist Party2,0840.03New0New
UFE1,9100.03New0New
OMNIUM1,6160.02New0New
PDA1,4150.02New0New
Vrijheid, Intimiteit, Thuis, Arbeid en Liefde1,3250.02New0New
Noor1,1410.02+0.0000
DL1,0520.02New0New
MDT9140.01New0New
Parti humaniste–Humanistische Partij5210.01+0.0100
PPR3760.01New0New
Total6,572,189100.001500
Valid votes6,572,18994.75
Invalid/blank votes364,4125.25
Total votes6,936,601100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,570,63791.63
Source: IBZ

Senate[edit]

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Socialistische Partij AndersSpirit1,013,56015.47+6.597+3
Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten1,007,86815.38+0.017+1
Parti Socialiste840,90812.84+3.196+2
Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams832,84912.71–2.0360
Mouvement Réformateur795,75712.15+1.5850
Vlaams Blok741,94011.32+1.915+1
Centre démocrate humaniste362,7055.54–0.492–1
Ecolo208,8683.19–4.211–2
New Flemish Alliance200,2733.06New0New
Agalev161,0242.46–4.620–3
National Front147,3052.25+0.751+1
Vivant86,7231.32–0.6600
Chrétiens démocrates francophones38,3390.59New0New
Rassemblement Wallonie France27,4240.42New0New
Liberal Appeal26,6290.41New0New
Workers' Party of Belgium18,6990.29+0.1100
RESIST17,6040.27New0New
Left Socialist Party8,3370.13New0New
VeiligBlauw8,0480.12New0New
Sociaale-Liberale Democraten6,6510.10–0.0200
Total6,551,511100.00400
Valid votes6,551,51194.48
Invalid/blank votes383,0935.52
Total votes6,934,604100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,570,63791.60
Source: IBZ

Further reading[edit]

  • Fitzmaurice, John (January 2004). "Belgium Stays 'Purple': The 2003 Federal Election". West European Politics. 27 (1): 146–156. doi:10.1080/01402380412331280843.