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Article: Belgium stays 'purple': the 2003 federal election.(Elections in Context)
- Article from:
- West European Politics
- Article date:
- January 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Frank Cass & Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Belgian federal election of 18 May 2003, unlike the 1999 'monster' election, was solely an election to the Federal Parliament (House of Representatives and the 40 directly elected members of the Senate). Elections to the Regional and Community Parliament and the European Parliament take place in 2004. The 2003 election was above all interesting because it gave the electorate the opportunity to give its verdict on the outgoing coalition, a unique experiment for Belgium. In 1999, a so-called 'Purple' coalition (a mixture of liberal blue and socialist red-green) had been somewhat unexpectedly formed by the six parties of the liberal, socialist and green political ...