2019 Elections

In 2014, a center-right government led by Prime Minister Charles Michel took power. Under this government coalition, the French had less representation than they previously held: the French Socialist party no longer had a position, and the only French party was Michel’s, MR (Reformist Movement). In December 2018, conflict over the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration led the Flemish nationalist party, the N-VA, along with several others, to leave the government coalition. Michel followed in December, leaving the government shut down and without a head for seven months, until the May 2019 elections [Birnbaum, 2018]. 

The divide in voting trends was clearly drawn along regional lines, once again displaying the linguistic and cultural split within the country. Dutch-speaking residents of Flanders overwhelmingly supported right-wing Flemish nationalist and separatist parties, while the French-speaking residents of Wallonia overwhelmingly voted left. The New Flemish Alliance won 25 seats, the Socialist party won 20, and the Vlaams Belang (the “Flemish Interest,” a Eurosceptic right-wing party) won 18, a 15 seat increase from the previous election [Cerulus, Cokelaere, & Dorpe, 2019].  

This result made is particularly difficult to form a new government, and a deadlock in the formation of a new government continued for a full 16 months after the election, such that a new coalition government was only announce in September 2020. “Belgium had been under a caretaker administration since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in March and without a fully-fledged government since December 2018, when a four-party coalition led by Francophone liberal Charles Michel collapsed over the UN migration pact.” The new government coalition, headed by the first Flemish Prime Minister since 2011, excluded the two most important Flemish nationalist and right wing parties, which collectively sought to create a confederal Belgian entity with independent Flemish and French constituent states.