1991 Belgian general election

1991 Belgian general election

24 November 1991
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives All 70 seats in the Senate
First party Second party Third party   PS Leader Wilfried Martens Guy Spitaels Frank Vandenbroucke Party CVP PS sp.a Leader since Candidate for PM 1981 1989 Last election 43 seats, 19.5% 40 seats, 15.6% 32 seats, 14.9% Seats won 39 35 28 Seat change 4 5 4 Popular vote 1,035,165 831,199 737,976 Percentage 16.8% 13.5% 12.0% Swing 2.7% 2.1% 2.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PRL Leader Guy Verhofstadt Antoine Duquesne and Daniel Ducarme Gérard Deprez Party Open Vld PRL cdH Leader since 1989 1990 1981 Last election 25 seats, 11.5% 23 seats, 9.4% 19 seats, 8.0% Seats won 26 20 18 Seat change 1 3 1 Popular vote 738,016 501,647 476,470 Percentage 12.0% 8.1% 7.7% Swing 0.5% 1.3% 0.3%
Government before election Martens IX CVP-PSC-PS-SP Government after election Martens IX CVP-PSC-PS-SP

General elections were held in Belgium on 24 November 1991 to elect members of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. The results represented a big loss for the majority parties (Christian democrats and Socialists) and significant gains for the Vlaams Blok. The day became known as "black Sunday" due to the rise of the far-right party.

These were the last elections before the new 1993 Belgian Constitution, which turned Belgium formally into a federal state: after this election, the number of MPs were reduced while the regional parliaments would become directly elected. The provincial elections would no longer coincide with national elections, but with municipal elections.

By law of 16 July 1991, experiments with electronic voting were carried out for the first time in Belgium during these elections, specifically in the canton of Verlaine (Liège Province) and the canton of Waarschoot (province of East Flanders).

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian People Party	1,036,165	16.81	39	–4
	Parti Socialiste	831,199	13.49	35	–5
	Party for Freedom and Progress	738,016	11.98	26	+1
	Socialistische Partij	737,976	11.98	28	–4
	Liberal Reformist Party	501,647	8.14	20	–3
	Christian Social Party	476,730	7.74	18	–1
	Vlaams Blok	405,247	6.58	12	+10
	People's Union	363,124	5.89	10	–6
	Ecolo	312,624	5.07	10	+7
	Agalev	299,550	4.86	7	+1
	ROSSEM	199,194	3.23	3	New
	Democratic Front of the Francophones–Party for Wallonia	90,813	1.47	3	0
	National Front	64,992	1.05	1	+1
	Workers' Party of Belgium	30,491	0.49	0	0
	Belgium–Europe–Belgium	15,429	0.25	0	New
	Rainbow	11,944	0.19	0	New
	Agir	11,189	0.18	0	New
	Communist Party	5,706	0.09	0	New
	Socialist Workers' Party	5,243	0.09	0	0
	VD	4,467	0.07	0	New
	Walloon Rally	3,756	0.06	0	0
	VCD–PCS	2,941	0.05	0	New
	Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour	2,416	0.04	0	0
	Independent Alliance Two Thousand New Policy	2,413	0.04	0	New
	Party of New Forces–PCN	1,870	0.03	0	0
	Party for Christian Solidarity	1,769	0.03	0	New
	DVA	1,139	0.02	0	New
	FNBB	1,128	0.02	0	New
	UCD	721	0.01	0	New
	PLI–POL	709	0.01	0	New
	NV	693	0.01	0	New
	Solidarité nationale wallonne	491	0.01	0	New
	SRD	368	0.01	0	New
Total		6,162,160	100.00	212	0
Valid votes		6,162,160	93.03
Invalid/blank votes		461,827	6.97
Total votes		6,623,987	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,623,987	100.00
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian People Party	1,028,699	16.82	20	–2
	Parti Socialiste	814,136	13.31	18	+2
	Socialistische Partij	730,274	11.94	14	–3
	Party for Freedom and Progress	713,542	11.66	13	+2
	Liberal Reformist Party	496,562	8.12	9	–3
	Christian Social Party	483,961	7.91	9	0
	Vlaams Blok	414,481	6.78	5	+4
	People's Union	365,173	5.97	5	–3
	Ecolo	323,683	5.29	6	+4
	Agalev	314,360	5.14	5	+2
	ROSSEM	197,128	3.22	1	New
	Democratic Front of the Francophones–Party for Wallonia	86,026	1.41	1	0
	National Front	60,876	1.00	0	New
	Workers' Party of Belgium	31,754	0.52	0	0
	Belgium–Europe–Belgium	15,893	0.26	0	New
	Rainbow	12,150	0.20	0	New
	Communist Party	6,552	0.11	0	New
	Socialist Workers' Party	6,485	0.11	0	0
	VD	4,228	0.07	0	New
	Walloon Rally	3,441	0.06	0	0
	Party of New Forces–PCN	2,777	0.05	0	0
	Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour	2,209	0.04	0	0
	UCD	1,387	0.02	0	New
	FNBB	1,197	0.02	0	New
	NV	640	0.01	0	New
Total		6,117,614	100.00	106	0
Valid votes		6,117,614	92.34
Invalid/blank votes		507,361	7.66
Total votes		6,624,975	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,144,888	92.72
Source: Belgian Elections