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.
Fitzmaurice, John (January 2004). "Belgium Stays 'Purple': The 2003 Federal Election". West European Politics. 27 (1): 146–156. doi:10.1080/01402380412331280843.
January 01, 1970
2003, belgian, federal, election, federal, elections, were, held, belgium, 2003, first, under, electoral, code, novelties, electoral, threshold, which, cost, many, seats, green, parties, ecolo, agalev, belgian, socialists, recovered, well, liberal, nationalist. 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 1999 18 May 2003 2003 05 18 2007 Chamber of RepresentativesAll 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives76 seats needed for a majorityParty Leader Seats VLD Guy Verhofstadt 15 36 25 2 sp a spirit Johan Vande Lanotte 14 91 23 9 CD amp 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 Joelle Milquet 5 47 8 2 N VA Geert Bourgeois 3 06 1 New Ecolo Philippe DefeytEvelyne HuytebroeckMarc Hordies 3 06 4 7 FN Daniel Feret 1 98 1 0 This lists parties that won seats See the complete results below Senate40 of 71 seats in the SenateParty Leader Seats sp a spirit Johan Vande Lanotte 15 47 7 3 VLD Guy Verhofstadt 15 38 7 1 PS Elio Di Rupo 12 84 6 2 CD amp V Stefaan De Clerck 12 71 6 0 MR Antoine Duquesne 12 15 5 0 VB Frank Vanhecke 11 32 5 1 cdH Joelle Milquet 5 54 2 1 Ecolo Philippe DefeytEvelyne HuytebroeckMarc Hordies 3 19 1 2 FN Daniel Feret 2 25 1 1 This lists parties that won seats See the complete results below Chamber of Representatives results by electoral districtSenate direct election results by provinceFederal Government before Federal Government after electionVerhofstadt 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 Contents 1 Results 1 1 Chamber of Representatives 1 2 Senate 2 Further readingResults editChamber of Representatives edit nbsp PartyVotes Seats Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten1 009 22315 36 1 0625 2Socialistische Partij Anders Spirit979 75014 91 5 3723 9Christen Democratisch en Vlaams870 74913 25 0 8421 1Parti Socialiste855 99213 02 2 8625 6Vlaams Blok767 60511 68 1 7218 3Mouvement Reformateur748 95211 40 1 2624 6Centre democrate humaniste359 6605 47 0 408 2New Flemish Alliance201 3993 06New1NewEcolo201 1183 06 4 294 7Agalev162 2052 47 4 520 9National Front130 0121 98 0 5310Vivant81 3371 24 0 8600Chretiens democrates francophones38 3460 58New0NewLiberal Appeal29 8680 45New0NewRassemblement Wallonie France25 4160 39New0NewWorkers Party of Belgium20 8250 32 0 1800RESIST10 0590 15New0NewBelgian Union10 0340 15New0NewParti citoyennete et prosperite8 2580 13New0NewMouvement socialiste8 1160 12New0NewCommunist Party of Belgium6 7590 10 0 2700New Belgian Front6 7360 10 0 2600Maria6 4400 10New0NewFrance5 6680 09 0 0300Nation4 1900 06New0NewVeiligBlauw3 2370 05New0NewLeft Socialist Party2 9290 04New0NewCommunist Party RDS2 5220 04New0NewCHOPE2 4300 04New0NewRDS Communist Party2 0840 03New0NewUFE1 9100 03New0NewOMNIUM1 6160 02New0NewPDA1 4150 02New0NewVrijheid Intimiteit Thuis Arbeid en Liefde1 3250 02New0NewNoor1 1410 02 0 0000DL1 0520 02New0NewMDT9140 01New0NewParti humaniste Humanistische Partij5210 01 0 0100PPR3760 01New0NewTotal6 572 189100 00 1500Valid votes6 572 18994 75Invalid blank votes364 4125 25Total votes6 936 601100 00Registered voters turnout7 570 63791 63Source IBZ Senate edit nbsp PartyVotes Seats Socialistische Partij Anders Spirit1 013 56015 47 6 597 3Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten1 007 86815 38 0 017 1Parti Socialiste840 90812 84 3 196 2Christen Democratisch en Vlaams832 84912 71 2 0360Mouvement Reformateur795 75712 15 1 5850Vlaams Blok741 94011 32 1 915 1Centre democrate humaniste362 7055 54 0 492 1Ecolo208 8683 19 4 211 2New Flemish Alliance200 2733 06New0NewAgalev161 0242 46 4 620 3National Front147 3052 25 0 751 1Vivant86 7231 32 0 6600Chretiens democrates francophones38 3390 59New0NewRassemblement Wallonie France27 4240 42New0NewLiberal Appeal26 6290 41New0NewWorkers Party of Belgium18 6990 29 0 1100RESIST17 6040 27New0NewLeft Socialist Party8 3370 13New0NewVeiligBlauw8 0480 12New0NewSociaale Liberale Democraten6 6510 10 0 0200Total6 551 511100 00 400Valid votes6 551 51194 48Invalid blank votes383 0935 52Total votes6 934 604100 00Registered voters turnout7 570 63791 60Source IBZFurther reading editFitzmaurice John January 2004 Belgium Stays Purple The 2003 Federal Election West European Politics 27 1 146 156 doi 10 1080 01402380412331280843 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2003 Belgian federal election amp oldid 1186857118, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,