Regional and European Election in Belgium: the Greens Still at Low Tide

摘要

On the occasion of the federal, regional and European elections of 13th June 1999, the two Green parties in Belgium achieved wins that were exceptional by their own electoral standards and even more so in terms of Green party average results across Europe: 14.35% at the federal level and 16% at the European level. This remarkable election result enabled them to gain government positions in the Federal Executive and in several federalised entities. For four years, Ecolo (the French-speaking Green Party) and Agalev (its Dutch-speaking counterpart) together had eleven ministers in Belgian governments. The Belgian Greens' experience in exercising power has already been analysed (Deschouwer & Buelens, 2003; Delwit & Hellings, 2004). In the federal elections of 18th May 2003, both Ecolo and Agalev suffered a severe election setback. Ecolo was left with only four seats and one senator, while Agalev lost all parliamentary representation at federal level (Hooghe & Rihoux, 2003; Delwit & van Haute, 2004). Did the regional and European elections of 13th June 2004 confirm this spectacular voting decline, or did it on the contrary show a new change in voting patterns? This paper tries to answer that question, after first presenting the context.