BELGIUM: Belgian voters head to the polls to choose new government and elect members of the European Parliament

Record ID: 695360

  • Title: BELGIUM: Belgian voters head to the polls to choose new government and elect members of the European Parliament
  • Date: 25th May 2014
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 25, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VOTERS QUEUING OUTSIDE POLLING STATION IN CENTRAL BRUSSELS
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: European Union,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7S5HUQF5L6OCBBD3C5VUB0A5C
  • Story Text: Belgians headed to the ballot box on Sunday (May 25) to vote in federal, regional, and European Parliament elections.
    Sunday's election will attract nearly eight million people to elect the 150 members of the Belgian Parliament for a five-year-term as well as the 21 Belgian members of the 751-member European Parliament.
    Voters will also cast their ballots for the Flemish, Wallon and Brussels parliaments.
    First estimates from the polling stations, which opened at 0600 GMT and will close at 1400 GMT, are expected in the afternoon, with early results later in the evening.
    Four years ago, these parliamentary elections were the starting point of a political crisis that left the country without a government for 18 months.
    A party that wants to split Belgium, the opposition N-VA (New Flemish Alliance), is forecast to emerge as the principal winners of the country's parliamentary election with a separatist and centre-right agenda that could lead to months of deadlock before a government can form.
    Belgians also vote in European elections along with other 19 countries of the EU's 28-bloc.
    The EU ballot reaches its culmination on "Super Sunday" with a vote expected to confirm the dominance of pro-European centrists despite a rise in support for the far-right and left.
    The European Parliament has said it will announce preliminary results shortly after 2100 GMT on Sunday, although officials caution that Italy's decision to keep polls open until the same time may well delay any announcement.
    Final results and the precise allotment of seats in parliament are expected to be announced by the end of Monday.
    As well as determining the makeup of the next European Parliament, these elections will for the first time influence who becomes president of the European Commission, a powerful role overseeing pan-EU legislation.
    Two months of European elections campaigning have failed to inspire the electorate, opinion polls suggest. Brussels voter Djonga Onya Placide expressed his lack of interest in European matters as he queued to cast his ballot.
    "I think we could pay more attention to the parliament because it's here that we live, in Belgium. We are not very interested in Europe, because we don't know what they do there. Our interests are here because we live here," he said.
    "European elections are also important, but not so important for the Belgian people," twenty-two year old Lucas Couvreur said.
    Turnout is expected to be high because voting is mandatory in Belgium. A female voter currently unemployed said she used to find joy in casting her ballot, but not anymore.
    "I vote because it's mandatory, otherwise I would not even come. We don't look forward anymore to casting our ballot. They don't respect anything, so we don't look forward to it, we come unwillingly," she said refusing to give her name.
    The triple election takes place in the shadow of Saturday's attack (May 24) at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels. Two women and a man were killed and one person seriously injured during a shooting, with Belgian officials saying anti-Semitic motives could not be ruled out.
    Security around all Jewish institutions in the country was raised to the highest level.
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