Politicians have learned to be less demanding of the media, according to newsdesks at the VRT and vtm, the two main TV news sources. Gone are the days when senior figures like Guy Verhofstadt would call up demanding attention. However the parties’ new politeness depends, they explains, on how the polls are running.

Saboteurs in Lennik threatened to use their position as tellers to substitute one vote for N-VA for every vote cast for a French-speaking party. The town lies in Flemish Brabant, in the BHV constituency, where voters can choose between Flemish and French-speaking parties. In the end, the threat was not carried out.

The owners of the Harlekin bakery in the Mechelen district of Heffen noticed their customers were very politically interested in the run-up to the election, and grasped the business opportunity, producing coalition cakes featuring the various party logos. “We call them coalition cakes because all of the Flemish parties are there,” said Els De Smet.

The final of the Miss BHV contest, a spoof beauty contest due to be screened during Saturday’s edition of the late-night talk show Villa Vanthilt, was cancelled at the last minute on orders from the VRT’s board. “Less than 12 hours before the polls open, this event could be interpreted as a political signal,” a spokesperson for the public broadcasting authority said.

Division of the seats

(2010 compared to 2007)

N-VA 27 (8)
CD&V 17 (23)
SP.A 13 (14)
Open VLD 13 (18)
Vlaams Belang 12 (16)
Groen! 5 (4)
Lijst Dedecker 1 (5)

The foreign press

“This is an unprecedented result that will make the political crisis in Belgium worse.” Le Figaro, France “These elections in Belgium have made the gulf between Flemish and Walloons deeper.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Overheard

“Don’t wet the pencil.” Sign in a voting booth “Read De Standaard for as long as it takes to form a government for only €45.” De Standaard offers a new subscription deal “I’m afraid we’re in for weeks and months of negotiations.” Political scientist Carl De Vos

Top 10 votes

The two Senate lists are national, with large vote totals as a result. Most of the leaders of the main Flemish parties stood on their parties’ Senate lists. Aside from them, notable high scorers were Flemish socialist Frank Vandenbroucke, Senate speaker Armand De Decker and university professor Rik Torfs. The Chamber top scorers, meanwhile, include a couple of party leaders and “white rabbit” Siegfried Bracke, a former TV journalist parachuted in to snatch East Flanders from the grasp of the Open VLD.

Senate

Bart De Wever (N-VA) 724,791
Marianne Thyssen (CD&V) 297,183
Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) 272,955
Paul Magnette (PS) 219,537
Filip Dewinter (VB) 186,786
Johan Vande Lanotte (SP.A) 172,757
Frank Vandenbroucke (SP.A) 160,137
Armand De Decker (MR) 134,260
Rik Torfs (CD&V) 132,921
Louis Michel (MR) 116,277

Chamber

Yves Leterme (CD&V) 101,799
Elio Di Rupo (PS) 98,158
Siegfried Bracke (N-VA) 89,475
Inge Vervotte (CD&V) 78,915
Michel Daerden (PS) 72,194
Didier Reynders (MR) 61,848
Jan Jambon (N-VA) 61,065
Olivier Maingain (MR) 56,983
Gerolf Annemans (VB) 56,199
Hilde Crevits (CD&V) 50,611

Elections at a glance

Sunday saw the election of 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives, and 40 directly elected Senators. In the election for the Chamber, there were 132 party lists featuring 2,081 candidates. For the Senate, there were 620 candidates on 21 lists. In all, 3,421 candidates for a total electorate of 7.73 million in Belgium and 42,489 abroad.

The lists are organised by province except in Flemish Brabant, where the area around Leuven is Flemish, while the areas of Halle and Vilvoorde join with Brussels and are bilingual. The Senate race is organised into Dutch- and French-speaking lists, which are national. As well as the 40 senators elected on Sunday, another 30 will be nominated by the regional parliaments or otherwise co-opted.

Voting is mandatory for all Belgian citizens over the age of 18, unless prohibited by law. In 44% of polling stations voting is electronic; in the rest, it is still done by marking one’s choice with a red pencil on a paper ballot.

The winners

“N-VA now stands for Nil Volentibus Arduum: for those who desire, nothing is impossible.” Bart De Wever, president of the Nieuw- Vlaams Alliantie (N-VA)

“A large part of Flanders wants our country to evolve on an institutional level. That signal has to be heard.” Elio Di Rupo, president of the largest party in Wallonia and possible next prime minister

“I’m unbelievably proud.” Bart De Wever’s mother, Irene Torfs

The losers

“At a certain point, I was beginning to get really worried.” Vlaams Belang’s Filip De Winter, whose party fell to under 13%

“It’s like a tsunami: some houses suffer some damage, and some get swept away.” SP.A party president Johan Vande Lanotte

“This tsunami hasn’t only swept away the furniture, it’s taken the whole house.” Jean-Marie Dedecker, whose LDD party lost four of its five seats

“We won four elections in a row. Today was a little different.” Marianne Thyssen, president of CD&V, whose share of the vote dropped below 20% for the first time

“The voter has spoken and was very clear: this federal government is being punished.” Socialist party president Caroline Gennez

“I’d rather have seen something else happen.“ Open-VLD president Alexander De Croo, whose party lost five seats