Belgium

House of RepresentativesSenate

Senate

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Parliamentary system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Bicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
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Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Stephanie D'Hose (Female)
Year of birth
1981
Additional information
Elected on 13 Oct. 2020, re-elected on 12 Oct. 2021 and on 11 Oct. 2022.

The President is elected after each renewal and at the beginning of the parliamentary term, on the second Tuesday of October each year, for a one-year term of office. The President may be re-elected.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Gert Van der biesen (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
1 April 2016 -

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
33
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Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
27
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Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
45% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
45.45
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Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
23
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Youngest member
Adeline Blancquaert
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
63
Oldest member
Jean-Paul Wahl (Male)
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
29 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
31 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
33 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
27 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0
21-30
6 See historical data for this field.
31-40
19 See historical data for this field.
41-45
4 See historical data for this field.
46-50
9 See historical data for this field.
51-60
17 See historical data for this field.
61-70
5 See historical data for this field.
71-80
0 See historical data for this field.
81-90
0
91 and over
0
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 6 19 4 9 17 5 0 0 0
Total <= 45: 29 Total >= 46: 31
Male 0 3 11 2 4 9 4 0 0 0 33
Female 0 3 8 2 5 8 1 0 0 0 27
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger10%5%5%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger41.67%23.33%18.33%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger48.33%26.67%21.67%

Reserved seats and quotas

Number of reserved seats, by group
Women
20
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Yes
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Notes
The Senate shall not have more than two thirds of its members of the same sex. It shall therefore be composed of at least 20 men and at least 20 women Senators.
Elections > Election results

Results

Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
32
Number of women elected
28
Percentage of women elected The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
46.67%
Note on the Distribution of seats according to sex
Twenty-eight women were elected in the May 2019 elections.
In September, one female senator became a regional minister and was replaced by a male member, thereby decreasing the number of women senators to 27 (Source: Senate, 31.01.2020).
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Indirectly Elected
25
Women Other
3

New legislature

Total number of men after the election The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
32
Total number of women after the election The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
28
First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Sabine Laruelle (Female)
Political party
Movement for Reform (MR)
Date of election
18.07.2019
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1919
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions Suffrage: Restrictions detail
Suffrage only given to widows or mothers of servicemen killed during World War One, citizens shot or killed by the enemy and women political prisoners
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Contained in the law of 9 May 1919. Universal suffrage was introduced for men in 1919.
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1948
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
The Law of 27 March 1948 gave all women the right to vote under the same conditions as for men. Women voted for the first time in 1949.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1921
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1921
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
2004