Belgian federal election, 1999

Belgium federal election, 1999

13 June 1999

All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 40 of 71 seats in the Senate respectively 76 and 36 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Guy Verhofstadt Jean-Luc Dehaene^ Elio Di Rupo Party VLD CVP PS Leader since 1997 Candidate for PM 1999 Leader's seat Dendermonde Vilvoorde Mons Last election 21 seats, 13.1% 29 seats, 17.18% 21 seats, 11.87% Seats before 21 29 21 Seats won 23 22 19 Seat change 2 7 2 Popular vote 888,861 875,455 631,653 Percentage 14.3% 14.09% 10.16% Swing 1.15% 3.09% 1.71%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Louis Michel Frank Vanhecke Fred Erdman Party PRL + FDF VB SP Leader since 1995 1996 1998 Leader's seat Jodoigne Antwerp Antwerp Last election 18 seats, 10.26% 11 seats, 7.83% 14 seats, 12.56% Seats before 18 11 20 Seats won 18 15 14 Seat change 4 6 Popular vote 630,219 613,399 593,372 Percentage 10.14% 9.87% 9.55% Swing 0.12% 2.04% 3.01%

Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district, as shown in the table of results.

Prime Minister before election Jean-Luc Dehaene CVP Subsequent Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt VLD

The June 13, 1999 Belgian federal elections was a Belgian election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and Belgian Senate. The federal general elections were held on the same day as the European elections and the regional elections. The Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) became the largest party.

The Christian Democrats (CVP/PSC) suffered historic losses due to the dioxine affair that broke loose that year. Jean-Luc Dehaene's reign of eight years came to an end. Verhofstadt formed a six-party coalition comprising the liberal (VLD and PRL), socialist (SP and PS), and green parties (Agalev and Ecolo). It was the first liberal-led government since 1938, and the first since 1958 that didn't include a Christian Democratic party.

Chamber of Representatives

 Summary of the 13 June 1999 Belgian Chamber of Representatives election results

← 1995 • 1999 • 2003 →
Party		Main ideology	Leader(s)	Votes	%	+/–	E.c. %	Seats	+/–
	Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD)	Liberalism	Guy Verhofstadt	888,861	14.30	1.15		23	2
	Christian People's Party (CVP)	Christian democracy	Marc Van Peel	875,455	14.09	3.09		22	7
	Socialist Party (Wallonia) (PS)	Social democracy	Elio Di Rupo	631,653	10.16	1.71		19	2
	Liberal Reformist Party (PRL) + Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF)	Liberalism	Louis Michel	630,219	10.14	0.12		18	0
	Flemish Block (VB)	Flemish nationalism	Frank Vanhecke	613,399	9.87	2.04		15	4
	Socialist Party (Flanders) (SP)	Social democracy	Fred Erdman	593,372	9.55	3.01		14	6
	Confederated Ecologists (ECOLO)	Green politics	Isabelle Durant	457,281	7.36	3.35		11	5
	Living Differently (AGALEV)	Green politics	Jos Geysels	434,449	6.99	2.56		9	4
	Christian Social Party (PSC)	Christian democracy	Philippe Maystadt	365,318	5.88	1.85		10	2
	People's Union–ID (VU-ID)	Flemish nationalism	Patrik Vankrunkelsven	345,576	5.56	0.86		8	3
	National Front (FN)	Nationalism		90,401	1.45	0.83		1	1
	Vivant (VIVANT)	Social liberalism	Roland Duchâtelet	130,701	2.10	new	—	—	—
	Others (parties that received less than 1% of the national vote)			157,389	2.53	—	—	—	—
Valid votes				6,214,074	93.44
Blank and invalid votes				435,941	6.56
Totals				6,650,015	100.00	—	—	150	—
Electorate and voter turnout				7,343,464	90.56
Source: 1999 Federal Election.

Senate

 Summary of the 13 June 1999 Belgian Senate election results

Parties		Senate
		Votes	+/-	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten)	952,116		15.4		6	± 0
	Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij)	913,508		14.7		6	- 1
	Liberal Reformist Party–Democratic Front of Francophones (PRL–FDF)	654,961		10.6		5	± 0
	Socialist Party (Wallonia) (Parti Socialiste)	597,890		9.7		4	- 1
	Flemish Block (Vlaams Blok)	583,208		9.4		4	+ 1
	Socialist Party (Flanders) (Socialistische Partij)	550,657		8.9		4	- 2
	Ecolo	458,658		7.4		3	+ 1
	Agalev	438,931		7.1		3	+ 2
	Christian Social Party (Parti Social Chrétien)	374,002		6.0		3	± 0
	VU&ID	317,830		5.1		2	± 0
	Vivant (total)	123,498		2.0		–
	National Front (Front National)	92,924		1.5		–
	Workers Party of Belgium (total)	35,493		0.6		–
	FNB (Front Nouveau de Belgique)	23,382		0.4		–
	Communist Party (Parti Communiste)	21,991		0.4		–
	PNPB (Paul Marchal)	26,124		0.5		–
	Other	29,198	—	0.5	—	—	—
Total (turnout 90.6%)		6,194,371		100		40
Source: IBZ.