Chamber:
	Sénat - Senaat - Senat
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	24 November 1991
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the directly elected members of Parliament following the slightly premature dissolution of this body on 17 October 1991. General elections had previously taken place in December 1987.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 4 October 1991, the centre-left coalition Government headed by Prime Minister Wilfried Martens and comprising the French- and Flemish-speaking branches of the Christian Social (PSC and CVP) and Socialist (PS and SP) parties, as well as the Flemish nationalist Volksunie, collapsed over issues with underlying conflict along linguistic and regional lines. Three days later, the election date was set. As could be expected, the electoral campaign entailed inter-community quarrelling but also debate on economic questions (budget deficit, public debt) and immigration policy in particular. The outgoing coalition partners were confronted above all by the French and Flemish Liberal parties (PRL and PVV). Due largely to the country’s linguistic divide, a proliferation of groups fielded candidates. Polling day was marked by a strong protest vote against the traditional parties, as all but PVV lost seats to environmentalist and far-right groups, especially Ecolo and Vlaams Blok. The result was seen as reflecting popular disillusionment with the perennial feuding of the mainstream parties. While the CVP and Socialists retained their respective positions as largest single party and bloc in Parliament, the outgoing coalition (excluding Volksunie) had their overall Representatives total drop by 14 seats to 120. Given this outcome, formation of a new Government inevitably took time, during which Mr. Martens - Prime Minister almost continuously since 1979 - stayed in office in a caretaker capacity. Finally, on 6 March 1992, a Flemish Christian Democrat, Mr. Jean-Luc Dehaene, agreed to lead a new governing coalition, thus ending more than 100 days of political crisis; he was appointed Prime Minister the next day. As before, the new Cabinet comprised CVP, PS, SP and PSC, members.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (24 November 1991): Elections results
Number of registered electors	7,144,884
Voters	6,625,014 (92.7%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	507,360
Valid votes	6,117,654

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Christian Social Party - Flemish (CVP)	1,028,699	16.81
Christian Social Party - Walloon (PSC)	483,961	7.91
Socialist Party - Walloon (PS)	814,136	13.30
Socialist Party - Flemish (SP)	730,274	11.93
Liberal Party - Flemish (Freedom and Progress Party - PVV)	713,542	11.66
Liberal Party - Walloon (Parti réformateur libéral - PRL)	496,562	8.11
Greens - Walloon (Ecolo)	323,683	5.29
Greens - Flemish (Agalev)	314,360	5.13
Volksunie	365,173	5.96
Vlaams Blok	414,481	6.77
Front démocratique des francophones (FDF)	86,026	1.40
Van Rossem list*	196,051	3.20
Others	150,706	2.46

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Number of directly elected Senators
Christian Social Party - Flemish (CVP)	36	20
Christian Social Party - Walloon (PSC)	16	9
Socialist Party - Walloon (PS)	30	18
Socialist Party - Flemish (SP)	26	14
Liberal Party - Flemish (Freedom and Progress Party - PVV)	22	13
Liberal Party - Walloon (Parti réformateur libéral - PRL)	18	9
Greens - Walloon (Ecolo)	11	6
Greens - Flemish (Agalev)	8	5
Volksunie	8	5
Vlaams Blok	6	5
Front démocratique des francophones (FDF)	2	1
Van Rossem list*	1	1
Others	-	-

Comments:
	Plus one ex officio Senator. * New party.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	164
Women:	20

Distribution of seats according to age:
40-50 years	56
50-65 years	123
Over 65 years	5