Vote in Belgium Shows Shift to Right
Ecologists and anti-immigrant rightists posted major gains in elections Sunday, dealing a strong setback to Prime Minister Wilfried Martens’ center-left coalition government.
With about 70% of the votes counted, computer forecasts showed the ruling Christian Democrats and Socialists winning 120 of the 212 parliamentary seats, down from 134 in the old Parliament.
The extreme right, anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok party in Flanders, Belgium’s Flemish-speaking northern half, was expected to win 13 seats, a gain of 11.
“It is an extreme shift to the right,” Martens said on the BRT television network.
The next government is expected to amend the constitution to grant more autonomy to Flanders and Wallonia, Belgium’s French-speaking southern half. To do so, it needs a two-thirds parliamentary majority.
The other big winner was Wallonia’s environmental Ecolo party, which according to projections would add seven seats to its current three. The opposition Conservatives lost two of their 48 seats.
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