1968 Belgian general election
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Gaston Eyskens
Léo Collard
Omer Vanaudenhove
Party
Christian Social
Socialist
Freedom and Progress
Leader since
Candidate for PM
1959
1961
Last election
77 seats, 34.45%
64 seats, 28.28%
48 seats, 21.61%
Seats won
69
59
47
Seat change
8
5
1
Popular vote
1,643,785
1,403,107
1,080,894
Percentage
31.75%
27.10%
20.87%
Swing
2.65%
1.18%
0.74%
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
Leader
Frans Van der Elst
Albert Peeters
Party
VU
FDF
RW
Leader since
1955
1967
Last election
12 seats, 6.69%
3 seats, 1.33%
New
Seats won
20
6
6
Seat change
8
3
New
Popular vote
506,697
154,023
151,421
Percentage
9.79%
2.92%
2.92%
Swing
3.10%
1.59%
New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency.
General elections were held in Belgium on 31 March 1968.[1] The Christian Social Party remained the largest party.[2] Voter turnout was 90.0%.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
The snap elections were called after the government, a coalition of the Christian Social Party and the liberal Party for Freedom and Progress led by Christian Democrat Paul Vanden Boeynants , fell due to the .
The linguistic crisis would trigger the split of the dominant Christian Social Party into a Flemish and French-speaking party. The two other main parties would follow suit. The crisis also caused the rise of small linguistic, federalist parties, such as the People's Union on the Flemish side and the Democratic Front of the Francophones and Walloon Rally on the French-speaking side.
Results [ ]
Chamber of Deputies [ ]
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party
1,643,785
31.75
69
–8
Belgian Socialist Party
1,403,107
27.10
59
–5
Party for Freedom and Progress
1,080,894
20.87
47
–1
People's Union
506,697
9.79
20
+8
Vanden Boeynants Cartel
236,283
4.56
0
New
Communist Party of Belgium
170,625
3.30
5
–1
Democratic Front of the Francophones
154,023
2.92
6
+3
Walloon Rally
151,421
2.92
6
New
Red Lions
46,065
0.89
0
New
Walloon Workers
3,474
0.07
0
New
Pro-Peking Communists
3,119
0.06
0
New
ULS
2,694
0.05
0
New
Return to Liège
1,933
0.04
0
New
Flemish Social Movement
1,922
0.04
0
New
Kaganovemus
1,634
0.03
0
0
Dierenbes
1,608
0.03
0
New
Walloon Communists
964
0.02
0
New
Z. Kleur
723
0.01
0
New
Flemish Communists
702
0.01
0
New
FU Pop
572
0.01
0
New
Trotskyists
289
0.01
0
New
SH
198
0.00
0
New
RJB
161
0.00
0
New
Invalid/blank votes
376,700
–
–
–
Total
5,554,652
100
212
0
Registered voters/turnout
6,170,167
90.02
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Senate [ ]
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Belgian Socialist Party
1,454,879
28.46
33
+2
Christian Social Party
1,393,174
27.25
29
–15
Party for Freedom and Progress
1,114,428
21.80
22
–1
People's Union
513,342
10.04
9
+5
FDF -RW
308,859
6.04
5
+4
Communist Party of Belgium
271,586
5.31
2
–1
Vanden Boeynants -Christian Social Party Kartel
252,331
4.94
6
New
Red Lions
45,097
0.88
0
New
Walloon Workers
3,777
0.07
0
New
Pro-Peking Communists
3,452
0.07
0
New
Kaganovemus
2,694
0.05
0
0
ULS
2,364
0.05
0
New
Flemish Communists
801
0.02
0
New
Walloon Communists
520
0.01
0
New
FU Pop
495
0.01
0
New
Invalid/blank votes
441,379
–
–
–
Total
5,553,197
100
106
0
Registered voters/turnout
6,170,167
90.00
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
References [ ]
^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook , p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
^ Nohlen & Stöver, pp309-311
^ Nohlen & Stöver, p291