| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parlement fédéral - Federaal Parlement - Föderales Parlament / Federal Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Chambre des Représentants / House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Sénat - Senaat - Senat / Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
25 May 2014 |
| Purpose of elections |
As in the previous elections, no party won an outright majority in the 150-member House of Representatives. The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), led by the Mayor of Antwerp, Mr. Bart De Wever, remained the largest force with 33 seats, up from the 27 it had won in the previous elections in 2010. The Socialist Party - Walloon (PS), led by Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, and the Movement for Reform (MR), led by Mr. Charles Michel, took 23 (down from 26) and 20 seats (up from 18) respectively. Three other Flemish parties followed: The Flemish Democratic Christian Party (CD&V, 18 seats); the Open VLD (14 seats); the Flemish Socialist Party (sp.a, 13 seats). Seven other parties won fewer than 10 seats each.
The June 2010 elections had resulted in a record 541 days of coalition talks before a government was formed. The 2014 elections were the first to be held after the October 2011 political accord on State reform (see note). In 2014, the N-VA manifesto included a proposal to transform Belgium into a confederation of autonomous regions, although the party did not make institutional reform a central issue of its campaign. It promised to work for "protection of the interests of Flanders" but stated that it did not want a long political crisis. Prime Minister Di Rupo (PS) argued that voting for the N-VA would lead to the country's division. The sp.a also defended the federal institutions and promised to continue the welfare system. The CD& V opposed the N-VA's proposal to cut unemployment benefits after two years. The MR wanted to revive the economy through tax reform. The Open VLD promised to boost the economy and create jobs by lowering the labour tax and reducing the government spending by five per cent.
Note:
The so-called Butterfly Agreement ("Accord Papillon") was signed by the CD&V, the sp.a, the Open VLD, GROEN! (Flemish green party), the PS, the MR, the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) and the Greens - Walloon (Ecolo) in view of the sixth State reform of the federal State. In December 2011, six of the eight signing parties without the two green parties - formed a coalition government.
Based on the sixth State reform, the 71-member Senate, which comprised 40 directly elected members, was transformed into a 60-member indirectly elected body, comprising 50 senators of the federal entities designated by Community and Regional Parliaments and 10 co-opted senators, selected by the 50 senators. Six Dutch-speaking members and four French-speaking members will be co-opted based on the election results of the House of Representatives. |
Date of previous elections: 13 June 2010
Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: 28 April 2014
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Expected date of next elections: May 2019
Number of seats at stake: 150 (full renewal)
Number of candidates: 1,599 (819 men, 780 women)
Percentage of women candidates: 48.8%
Number of parties contesting the election: 47
Number of parties winning seats: 13
Alternation of power: Yes
Number of parties in government: 4
Names of parties in government: Movement for Reform (MR), New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) and Open vld
Date of the first session of the new parliament: 19 June 2014
Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Patrick Dewael (Open vld) |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 25 May 2014 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
8'008'776
7'157'498 (89.37%)
412'951
6'744'547 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Socialist Party - Walloon (PS) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Reform (MR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Open vld |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Flemish Socialist Party (sp.a) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| GROEN! (Flemish green party) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Greens - Walloon (Ecolo) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| PTB-GO ! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) |
33
|
|
|
|
|
| Socialist Party - Walloon (PS) |
23
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Reform (MR) |
20
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) |
18
|
|
|
|
|
| Open vld |
14
|
|
|
|
|
| Flemish Socialist Party (sp.a) |
13
|
|
|
|
|
| Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) |
9
|
|
|
|
|
| GROEN! (Flemish green party) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Greens - Walloon (Ecolo) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| PTB-GO ! |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
91
59
39.33%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources: House of Representatives (01.01.2017)
http://elections2014.belgium.be/fr/cha/seat/seat_CKR00000.html
http://elections2014.belgium.be/fr/cha/results/results_graph_CKR00000.html
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
