2003 Belgian federal election

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.

2003 Belgian federal election

18 May 2003 (2003-05-18)
Chamber of Representatives
All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	91.63%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– VLD Guy Verhofstadt 15.36 25 +2 sp.a–spirit Johan Vande Lanotte 14.91 23 +9 CD&V Stefaan De Clerck 13.25 21 −1 PS Elio Di Rupo 13.02 25 +6 Vlaams Blok 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 National Democracy 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 Vote % Seats +/– sp.a–spirit 15.47 7 +3 VLD 15.38 7 +1 PS 12.84 6 +2 CD&V 12.71 6 0 MR 12.15 5 0 Vlaams Blok 11.32 5 +1 cdH 5.54 2 −1 Ecolo 3.19 1 −2 National Democracy 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

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

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	1,009,223	15.36	+1.06	25	+2
	Socialistische Partij Anders–Spirit	979,750	14.91	+5.37	23	+9
	Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams	870,749	13.25	–0.84	21	–1
	Parti Socialiste	855,992	13.02	+2.86	25	+6
	Vlaams Blok	767,605	11.68	+1.72	18	+3
	Mouvement Réformateur	748,952	11.40	+1.26	24	+6
	Centre démocrate humaniste	359,660	5.47	–0.40	8	–2
	New Flemish Alliance	201,399	3.06	New	1	New
	Ecolo	201,118	3.06	–4.29	4	–7
	Agalev	162,205	2.47	–4.52	0	–9
	National Front	130,012	1.98	+0.53	1	0
	Vivant	81,337	1.24	–0.86	0	0
	Chrétiens démocrates francophones	38,346	0.58	New	0	New
	Liberal Appeal	29,868	0.45	New	0	New
	Rassemblement Wallonie France	25,416	0.39	New	0	New
	Workers' Party of Belgium	20,825	0.32	–0.18	0	0
	RESIST	10,059	0.15	New	0	New
	Belgian Union	10,034	0.15	New	0	New
	Parti citoyenneté et prospérité	8,258	0.13	New	0	New
	Socialist Movement	8,116	0.12	New	0	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	6,759	0.10	–0.27	0	0
	New Belgian Front	6,736	0.10	–0.26	0	0
	Maria	6,440	0.10	New	0	New
	France	5,668	0.09	–0.03	0	0
	Nation	4,190	0.06	New	0	New
	VeiligBlauw	3,237	0.05	New	0	New
	Left Socialist Party	2,929	0.04	New	0	New
	Communist Party–RDS	2,522	0.04	New	0	New
	CHOPE	2,430	0.04	New	0	New
	RDS–Communist Party	2,084	0.03	New	0	New
	UFE	1,910	0.03	New	0	New
	OMNIUM	1,616	0.02	New	0	New
	PDA	1,415	0.02	New	0	New
	Vrijheid, Intimiteit, Thuis, Arbeid en Liefde	1,325	0.02	New	0	New
	Noor	1,141	0.02	+0.00	0	0
	DL	1,052	0.02	New	0	New
	MDT	914	0.01	New	0	New
	Parti humaniste–Humanistische Partij	521	0.01	+0.01	0	0
	PPR	376	0.01	New	0	New
Total		6,572,189	100.00	–	150	0
Valid votes		6,572,189	94.75
Invalid/blank votes		364,412	5.25
Total votes		6,936,601	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,570,637	91.63
Source: IBZ

Senate

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Socialistische Partij Anders–Spirit	1,013,560	15.47	+6.59	7	+3
	Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	1,007,868	15.38	+0.01	7	+1
	Parti Socialiste	840,908	12.84	+3.19	6	+2
	Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams	832,849	12.71	–2.03	6	0
	Mouvement Réformateur	795,757	12.15	+1.58	5	0
	Vlaams Blok	741,940	11.32	+1.91	5	+1
	Centre démocrate humaniste	362,705	5.54	–0.49	2	–1
	Ecolo	208,868	3.19	–4.21	1	–2
	New Flemish Alliance	200,273	3.06	New	0	New
	Agalev	161,024	2.46	–4.62	0	–3
	National Front	147,305	2.25	+0.75	1	+1
	Vivant	86,723	1.32	–0.66	0	0
	Chrétiens démocrates francophones	38,339	0.59	New	0	New
	Rassemblement Wallonie France	27,424	0.42	New	0	New
	Liberal Appeal	26,629	0.41	New	0	New
	Workers' Party of Belgium	18,699	0.29	+0.11	0	0
	RESIST	17,604	0.27	New	0	New
	Left Socialist Party	8,337	0.13	New	0	New
	VeiligBlauw	8,048	0.12	New	0	New
	Social Liberal Democrats	6,651	0.10	–0.02	0	0
Total		6,551,511	100.00	–	40	0
Valid votes		6,551,511	94.48
Invalid/blank votes		383,093	5.52
Total votes		6,934,604	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,570,637	91.60
Source: IBZ

Further reading

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