League gains presidency, suffers severe blow in parliamentary elections

The Flemish Department of Interior Affairs has published today the official results of the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. Erwin Berchtoldszn. van H. from the Northern Beneluccas, has been declared the winner of the presidential elections, with 54,5% of the first preference votes. V.H. was the candidate for the League for the Third Republic, an alliance of regionalist parties. His main competitor K. Anders, from Bruswerp, who had the support of incumbent president Mattiassen’s Democrats party, gained ‘only’ 40,9%, with Simon van Erasmus (of the Beneluccas based Union of Erasmi) and the monarchist Petrvs Fidelis lagging behind with 2,3% each. The president-elect is expected to take the oath of office on Wednesday.

The results also show a strong regional divide, with Anders’ support mainly concentrated in the national capital (67% of the vote), while the Province of Ambetanterijk massively supported the League’s candidate (94,7%). The results from the Beneluccas were mixed, with Van Erasmus receiving a surprisingly high percentage of the vote (7,7%).

On the other hand the League lost much of its support in the parliamentary elections, losing its absolute majority in the 50 seat legislature. With 20 remaining seats, its only barely larger than the Democrats, who conserve the 19 seats its predecessor New Democracy gained in September. The monarchist KGF (2 seats) and the Union of Erasmi (1 seat) will have only a negligible presence in the next legislature, which will commence its activities tomorrow (December 17^th). The Libertarian Party is, with eight seats, the clear winner of these elections and may emerge as the kingmaker in the next coalition government. However, it should be noted that Flanders has a tradition of minority governments as well, so it’s not entirely clear if there will be a coalition at all.

The new government is expected to face a number of crucial issues, most notably the possible introduction of a new economic system and a further defining of the geopolitical role of the country.