1968 Belgian general election

1968 Belgian general election

← 1965 31 March 1968 1971 →

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
  Gaston Eyskens
Leader Gaston Eyskens Léo Collard Omer Vanaudenhove
Party Christian Social Socialist Freedom and Progress
Leader since Candidate for PM 1959 1961
Last election 77 seats, 34.45% 64 seats, 28.28% 48 seats, 21.61%
Seats won 69 59 47
Seat change Decrease 8 Decrease 5 Decrease 1
Popular vote 1,643,785 1,403,107 1,080,894
Percentage 31.75% 27.10% 20.87%
Swing Decrease 2.65% Decrease 1.18% Decrease 0.74%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Frans Van der Elst Albert Peeters
Party VU FDF RW
Leader since 1955 1967
Last election 12 seats, 6.69% 3 seats, 1.33% New
Seats won 20 6 6
Seat change Increase 8 Increase 3 New
Popular vote 506,697 154,023 151,421
Percentage 9.79% 2.92% 2.92%
Swing Increase 3.10% Increase 1.59% New

Chamber seat distribution by constituency.

Government before election

Vanden Boeynants I
CVP/PSC-PVV/PLP

Government after election

G. Eyskens V
CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB

General elections were held in Belgium on 31 March 1968.[1] The Christian Social Party remained the largest party.[2] Voter turnout was 90.0%.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

The snap elections were called after the government, a coalition of the Christian Social Party and the liberal Party for Freedom and Progress led by Christian Democrat Paul Vanden Boeynants, fell due to the Leuven Crisis.

The linguistic crisis would trigger the split of the dominant Christian Social Party into a Flemish and French-speaking party. The two other main parties would follow suit. The crisis also caused the rise of small linguistic, federalist parties, such as the People's Union on the Flemish side and the Democratic Front of the Francophones and Walloon Rally on the French-speaking side.

Results

[edit]

Chamber of Deputies

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social Party1,643,78531.7569–8
Belgian Socialist Party1,403,10727.1059–5
Party for Freedom and Progress1,080,89420.8747–1
People's Union506,6979.7920+8
Communist Party of Belgium170,6253.305–1
Democratic Front of the Francophones154,0232.976+3
Walloon Rally151,4212.926New
Red Lions46,0650.890New
Walloon Workers3,4740.070New
Pro-Peking Communists3,1190.060New
ULS2,6940.050New
Return to Liège1,9330.040New
Flemish Social Movement1,9220.040New
Kaganovemus1,6340.0300
Dierenbes1,6080.030New
Walloon Communists9640.020New
Z. Kleur7230.010New
Flemish Communists7020.010New
FU Pop5720.010New
Trotskyists2890.010New
SH1980.000New
RJB1610.000New
Independents1,3420.0300
Total5,177,952100.002120
Valid votes5,177,95293.22
Invalid/blank votes376,7006.78
Total votes5,554,652100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,170,16790.02
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Belgian Socialist Party1,410,61727.6033+2
Christian Social Party1,398,06527.3529–15
Party for Freedom and Progress1,073,86021.0122–1
People's Union513,34210.049+5
FDFRW293,4335.745+4
Communist Party of Belgium180,1303.522–1
Vanden Boeynants Kartel183,1713.586New
Red Lions45,0970.880New
Walloon Workers3,7770.070New
Pro-Peking Communists3,4520.070New
Kaganovemus2,6940.0500
ULS2,3640.050New
Flemish Communists8010.020New
Walloon Communists5200.010New
FU Pop4950.010New
Total5,111,818100.001060
Valid votes5,111,81892.05
Invalid/blank votes441,3797.95
Total votes5,553,197100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,170,16790.00
Source: Belgian Elections, Statistical Yearbook

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, pp309-311
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p291