General Information
At Stake in this Election:
- 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium
Government Structure:
- Chief of State: King PHILIPPE
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Charles MICHEL
- Assembly: Belgium has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate (Senaat / Senat) with 60 seats and the Chamber of Representatives (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants) with 150 seats.
Electoral System:
- In the Chamber of Representatives (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants), 150 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms. Electors are given a list of candidates from each party and may vote either for the entire list or for a specific candidate. Preferential votes for single candidates can move those candidates up and down the list. Parties also provide a list of alternate candidates who take office if a regular candidate takes a position as a minister. Although voters may vote for more than one preferential candidate, all votes must be for candidates in the same party. There is a five percent minimum threshold for each party to reach in each district in eight of the 11 constituencies.
Main Parties in this Election:
- Party: Christian Democratic and Flemish / Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V)
- Leader: Wouter BEKE
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 18
- Party: Green / Groen
- Leader: Meyrem ALMACI
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 6
- Party: New Flemish Alliance / Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA)
- Leader: Bart DE WEVER
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 33
- Party: Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats / Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Open Vld)
- Leader: Gwendolyn RUTTEN
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 14
- Party: Socialist Party Different / Socialistische Partij Anders (sp.a)
- Leader: John CROMBEZ
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 13
- Party: Flemish Interest / Vlaams Belang (VB)
- Leader: Tom Van GRIEKEN
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 3
- Party: Humanist Democratic Centre / Centre démocrate humaniste (cdH)
- Leader: Maxime PRÉVOT
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 9
- Party: Confederated Ecologists for the for the Organization of Original Struggles / Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales (Ecolo)
- Leaders: Zakia KHATTABI and Jean-Marc NOLLET
- Seats won in last Chambers of Deputies election: 6
- Party: Democratic, Federalist, Independent / Démocrate Fédéraliste Indépendant (DéFI)
- Leader: Olivier MAINGAIN
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 2
- Party: Reformist Movement / Mouvement Réformateur (MR)
- Leader : Charles MICHEL
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 20
- Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
- Leader: Ello Di RUPO
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 23
- Party: People’s Party / Parti populaire / Personenpartij (PP)
- Leader: Mischaël MODRIKAMEN
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 1
- Alliance: Workers’ Party of Belgium / Partij van de Arbeid van België (PVDA) Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB) *
- Leader: Peter MERTENS
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 2
- Party: Union of Francophones / Union des Francophones (UF)
- Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
- Party: Listes Destexhe
- Leader: Alain DESTEXHE
- Seats won in last Chambers of Deputies election: 0
- Party: Prodg / Pro Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft
- Leader: Oliver PAASCH
- Seats won in last Chambers of Deputies election: 0
- Party: Vivant
- Leader: Roland DUCHÂTELE
- Seats won in last Chambers of Deputies election: 0
* The PVDA-PTB are running on a joint list.
Population and Voter Registration:
- Population: 11,562,784 (2019 est.)
- Registered Voters: 7,989,802
Gender Data:
- Female Population: 5,839,322 (2019 est.)
- Is Belgium a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)
- Has Belgium ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 July 1985)
- Gender Quota: Yes (Party-lists must provide an equal number of male and female candidates, and the first two candidates on each list must be of different genders. Following the first two names, parties may order their candidates as they choose with respect to gender.
- Female candidates in this election: Yes
- Number of Female Parliamentarians: 57 (38%) of 150 in the Chamber of Representatives; 26 (43.3%) of 60 in the Senate
- Human Development Index Position: 17 (2018)
- Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2019)
Disability Data:
- Is Belgium a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
- Has Belgium ratified CRPD: Yes (2 July 2009)
- Population with a disability: 1,698,596 (est.)