The left took a hard blow in Belgium

I promised to follow up with an election report from Belgium, and my dear friend Brian just sent me the following update. Here you go (it's sad news):

”The left took a hard blow, especially in Flanders – and that came as a shock, as polls pointed them around 20%.

In the French speaking community the loss is around 10% – but could have been much more difficult considering the context of affairs in Charleroi.

In spite of the spin the liberals are trying to give to the outcome, they lost as well. The real winners are the Christian‑democrats in the north, the greens and Christian-democrats in the south.

Only good point is: the extreme right parties go on with their downward spiral, compared to the regional elections of 2004 and the local elections of last year.

Surprising enough, though, is the rise of the populist ”Lijst de decker”.

It is very likely that both socialist parties will be in the opposition, and in MJS’s view, there is nothing to be gained in joining a government in the current situation.

As the CD&V is really willing to reach a two‑third strong coalition to change the constitution, the negociations will probably be long and painful.”

And here are the numbers:

Chambre:
CD&V : 30 (+8)
MR : 23 (‑2)
PS : 20 (‑5)
VLD : 18 (‑7)Vlaams Belang: 17 (‑1)
SPa: 14 (‑9)
CDH: 10 (+2)
ecolo: 8 (+4)
Lijst de decker: 5 (+5)
Groen: 4 (+4)
FN: 1 (=)

Senate:
CD&V: 9 (+3)
MR : 6 (+1)
Vlaams Belang : 5 (=)
VLD : 5 (‑2)
PS : 4 (‑2)
SPa: 4 (‑3)
CDH: 2 (=)
Ecolo: 2 (+1)
FN : 1 (=)
Groen: 1 (+1)
Liist de decker: 1 (+1)