1999 Belgian federal election

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1999 Belgian federal election

← 1995 13 June 1999 (1999-06-13) 2003 →
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 Open Vld CVP PS Leader since 1997 Candidate for PM 1999 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 14.30% 14.09% 10.16% Swing 1.15% 3.09% 1.71%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   sp.a Leader Louis Michel Frank Vanhecke Fred Erdman Party MR VB sp.a Leader since 1995 1996 1998 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.
Government before election Dehaene II CVP-PSC-PS-SP Government after election Verhofstadt I VLD-PRL-PS-SP-Agalev-Ecolo

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Federal elections were held in Belgium on June 13, 1999 to elect members of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. The 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[]

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		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.

Senate[]