Belgium federal election, 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.
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 [ edit ]
e • d 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 .
e • d 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 .