At stake in this election:

• 40 seats in the Senate (Senaat / Senat)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King ALBERT II
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Yves LETERME **
• Assembly: Belgium has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate (Senaat / Senat) with 71 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants) with 150 seats.

** LETERME resigned on 26 April 2010, but remains as caretaker.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary N/A.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch with the approval of parliament.
• In the Senate (Senaat / Senat), 40 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms, 21 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 4-year terms and 10 members are elected by senators*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants) 150 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Directly elected senators compete in three multi-member districts (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde). These three districts comprise two electoral colleges: one French college which elects 15 senators, and one Dutch college which elects 25 senators. The German population does not get its own electoral college, but shares one with the French. Electors in Flanders cast votes in the Dutch Electoral College and electors in Wallonia cast votes in the French Electoral College. Electors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district can choose which electoral college they want to participate in. Parties must obtain a 5 percent threshold of total votes cast in their electoral college. Twenty-one senators are indirectly elected through Community Parliaments (10 French, 10 Dutch and 1 German). In addition, 10 “co-opted senators” are elected by other senators. Six are elected by the other Dutch senators and 4 by the other French senators. According to Article 72 of the constitution, the King's children are Senators by Right at the age of 18, provided they take the oath as a senator. They have voting rights in the Senate at the age of 21, although in practice, they never exercise that right. They are also not taken into account in determining the quorum of attendance. Currently, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid, and Prince Laurent are Senators by Right.

** There are 11 multi-member constituencies. Electors are given a list of candidates from each party. They may either vote for this list, backing the party's order, or cast a preferential vote for a specific candidate. Preferential votes have the ability to move candidates up and down the list order. In addition to a regular candidate list, parties provide a list of alternate candidates. These alternate candidates take office if a regular candidate takes a position as a minister. Party-lists must provide an equal number of male and female candidates. In addition, the first two candidates presented on a list must be from different genders. Following the first two names, however, parties may order their candidates as they choose, without regard to gender. There is a 5 percent minimum threshold for each party to reach in each district, although this threshold does not apply in the districts of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, Brabant Wallon and Leuven.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats / Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (VLD)
  • Leader: Alexander DE CROO
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 7
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 13
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 25
• Coalition: Francophone Reformist Movement / Mouvement Réformateur (MR)
  • Leader: Didier REYNDERS
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 5
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 18
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 24
• Party: Socialist Party Differently / Socialistische Partij Anders (SP.A)
  • Leader: Caroline GENNEZ
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 7
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 13
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 23
• Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
  • Leader: Elio DI RUPO
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 7
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 6
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 26
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 25
• Party: Christian, Democratic and Flemish Party / Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V)
  • Leader: Marianne Leonie Petrus THYSSEN
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 6
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 17
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 22
• Party: Humanist Democratic Centre / Centre démocrate humaniste (CDH)
  • Leader: Joelle MILQUET
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 2
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 9
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 8
• Party: Flemish Interest / Vlaams Belang (VB)
  • Leader: Bruno VALKENIERS
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 3
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 5
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 12
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 18
• Party: New Flemish Alliance / Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA)
  • Leader: Bart DE WEVER
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 9
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 27
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Party: Common Sense / Lijst Dedecker (LDD)
  • Leader: Jean-Marie DEDECKER
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 1
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Party: Green! / Groen!
  • Leader: Wouter VAN BESIEN
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 5
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Party: Confederated ecologists for the organisation of original struggle (ecologist) / Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales (Ecolo)
  • Leader: Jean-Michel JAVAUX Sarah TURINE
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 8
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,906,147 (July 2010 )
• Registered Voters: 7,767,552 (June 2010 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,556,643 (2010)

·         Is Belgium a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Belgium ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 July 1985)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 59 (Chamber of Representatives); 15 (Senate) (following 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 21 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Belgium a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Belgium ratified CRPD: Yes (2 July 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 1,635,922 (est.)