Belgian Politics & Elections: Federal, regional & EP elections on June 9, 2024

[Walmart_shopper]

Will there be exit polls?

[Walmart_shopper]

First exit polls for Francophone Belgium

https://m.rtl.be/info/1127524


Disgusted.

I guess the key questions now are whether PTB make threshold in Bxl and Défi in Wallonia, and if PS and Écolo can hold a majority.

Écolo appear to have bombed in Wallonia.

This is a pretty strong result for the PS, correct? And a relative disappointment for Ecolo?

[Walmart_shopper]

So what kind of coalition seems likely at this point?

[Walmart_shopper]

Do you mean the Humanist Democratic Center? cdH?

Yes them (though I did read about them in previous pages).

CdH abandoned its Christian and conservative, in order to become more relevant to immigrant communities by becoming a "humanist" party.

Now most people basically see them as a wishy washy party that doesn't really stand for anything.

Under Joëlle Milquet they were for all intents and purposes a left-wing party which lost them their old conservative vote, and then in the last few years they tried to pivot right again but it didn't get them their old conservative voters back and it just lost them their left-wing voters acquired during the Milquet years.

That explains their electoral collapse during the last election.

Basically in Wallonia and Brussels if you're non left-wing you vote MR (Mouvement Réformateur). And it's basically been that way since the 2000s.

Flanders has far more options in terms of parties for right-wingers.

Correct, particularly this part. MCC's defection from the Christian Social Party back in the 90s in return of the PRL abandoning its crusade (for lack of a better word) on the Catholic hold on education, effectively ensured traditional conservatives have been voting MR for ages now, although you do meet some relics who just blindly vote cdH.

Why not a religious centrist, moderate, left coalition or support a socially conservative/justice vision or there's no audience for that? If you're an MR voter, do you need be both types of conservative/right leaning or may it be somewhat possible to be little/moderate/somewhat left on economic and fiscal issues?

Yes, its easy to identify a couple of MR figures with the profile I think you are trying to draw (Willy Borsus for one). But Americans here on general just need to understand that issues such as religion's place in society, abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage etc. are just about non-issues for large swathes of European electorates, including self-declared Christians. Belgium is not different. Its a heavily culturally catholic country, with a very strong catholic pillar and catholic genealogy that can explain a lot of good and bad characteristics about Belgium. But that's about it.  

The economic cleavage dominates in francophone Belgium especially. That's not to say MR have a radically different economic program to PS (they are after all in coalition together at the Walloon region). But your socio-economic status usually determines how you vote. cdH were by definition in Wallonia a party of rural economic renewal, dominating in Luxemburg province, and of associative governance models with a trade unions that targeted certain sections of the working class.

Prévot is trying to re-invent them into something a bit different now that they are in opposition, but encounters resistance.

Might I ask if Catholicism like practicing Catholics sitll exist in Belgium and the Netherlands, they seem rare nowadays if not endangered especially in the latter? Are they nations whose adherence is comparable to France but being smaller countries, it's extremely small even if the proportional figures are similar therefore it looks non existent but it's still there and will continue to be there though it's much harder to find?

I know you say it's a non issue but is there a Pro Life movement in Belgium even if its small?

The Dutch church has been decimated, like Christianity generally in the Netherlands. Catholics were always a minority, but now they are a small minority within a minority, which means political powerlessness even compared to the small conservative Reformed population. Devout Catholics do exist, but not commonly.

Belgium is similar, although Catholicism os more common especially in more conservative Flanders, but because Catholics are a much larger chunk of the overall population the number of devout Catholics is larger. Belgium also has a small but vibrant traditionalist community, likely inherited from neighboring France, which is less common in the Netherlands. Notably, the most conspicuous mark of devout Catholicism or Orthodoxy may actually be from Christian migrants from the Middle East.

France, by contrast, has a very robust devout traditionalist minority. So although Catholic life has bottomed out there is a large enough minority to meaningfully impact political discourse and maintain a Christian presence generally in the country.

[Walmart_shopper]

Devout Catholics do exist, but not commonly.

Do the Catholics there still have community even if it's small?

Does Wallonia still have some sort of presence like France?

How's the Catholic scene in Israel?

Yes, there are plenty of Catholic churches, as well as groups like Opus Dei, that operate in the Netherlands.

Wallonia'a Catholic life is less vibrant than France, but not lifeless, either.

The Catholic scene in Israel is fantastic and growing, bur as you can imagine it's not at all easy.