1. Volt
The most pro-European party on the ballot should be Volt, a pan-European party running under the same name in several countries. All major challenges must be resolved at the European level, Volt believes. For its policy, it looks at “best practices” in the Member States. “For bicycle policy to Utrecht, for housing policy to Vienna,” the party itself describes it.
Furthermore, the program reads left-progressive. Public transport must be cheaper, childcare free and corporate tax must become variable and more affordable depending on good climate and employment performance. The most significant proposal concerns climate. The European Union must become climate neutral not by 2050, but by 2040.
The party has already managed to win seats in countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany. In Belgium we are still waiting for a breakthrough. The focus is on the European list. The party also submitted lists in Antwerp, Brussels and Flemish Brabant.
Among the candidates, Sophie in ‘t Veld’s name stands out. The Dutch woman has been a Member of the European Parliament for twenty years. She worked for D66 for nineteen years, but since last year she has been an independent. So for the next elections she will switch to Volt and she must get elected in Belgium.
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2. Blank
Deliberately becoming dead weight in parliament. That is the clear objective of the Blanco party. Because empty ballot papers are pushed aside during the counting, non-voters are not represented, and that is wrong, Blanco reasons. It certainly wants to send the people who are elected on its list to parliament, but they would always abstain.
Only once would the party vote in parliament, on a bill that would allow it to close itself down. According to that law, all blank votes should be converted into empty seats.
The party hopes to end up above the 5 percent electoral threshold. Blanco does not need big, buzzing names. With 120 unknowns, the party found enough candidates to stand in every constituency.
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3. For you
For you and against particracy. In this way, the party of former Open VLD politician Els Ampe sells itself to the voter. She is fed up with the omnipotence of the parties. Voor U wants to break with “the monopoly of the existing parties”.
Because party discipline that is too strict is a thorn in the side, the party does not have a rigid or extensive program. She limits herself to twelve ‘works’, such as “limit the government to its core tasks”, “leave the farmers their land” and “an active and affordable environmental and climate policy, no bullying policy”.
For You submits lists at all levels, in all provinces. In no time, Ampe was able to fill it with no fewer than 406 candidates.
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4. BoerBurgerBelangen
What worked in the Netherlands should also work in Flanders? BoerBurgerBelangen (BBB) already believes in a major advance by capturing the dissatisfaction of the farmers’ protests. Agriculture – and more specifically the nitrogen crisis – is the main focus of the elections for BBB.
Furthermore, the party mainly criticizes the way in which politics is conducted. It is too far removed from the citizen, she believes. The program mainly embraces positions of agricultural lobby groups, supplemented with a limited number of statements about the economy, justice and energy.
For us, the party does not have a figurehead with the allure of Caroline van der Plas of the Dutch BoerBurger Movement. The founder of the Belgian BBB is Tine Hermans, who describes herself on X (Twitter) as a farmer’s daughter. She draws the Flemish list in Antwerp. In East Flanders, contractor Patrick Smet takes on the party leader position. In Limburg, Peter Smeets comes first. He is a municipal councilor in Peer.
The BBB only stands up for the Flemish Parliament, the level where the majority of agricultural powers reside. Lists have only been submitted in East Flanders, Limburg and Antwerp. In West Flanders, the party introduced a candidate on the list of L99, a small anti-partisan party.
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5. AnimalAnimal
The name of the party leaves little to the imagination: DierAnimal is committed to animal rights. More instruments are needed to guarantee those rights, it is said. In the party manifesto, the party describes its struggle as that for “a society in which every individual, regardless of skin color, gender, age or species, is respected”.
The main positions are therefore about animal rights. There must be a separate animal police, foie gras farms must be closed and hunting must be banned throughout Belgian territory.
But animals are also creeping into other policy areas. Childcare, for example. He can safely play with cats, because that would be good for the children.
The party has two positions on justice: less strict punishments for animal rights activists and no longer considering raising children vegan as possible child abuse. Striking: although a good owner vaccinates his pet against all kinds of ailments, the party is against mandatory vaccinations.
Candidates on the list often have a background in animal rights organizations and pose on the website with dogs and chickens. The party also emerged in the previous elections, but remained firmly below the electoral threshold everywhere. Except in Brussels, where the only MP defected to Ecolo. This time DierAnimal is only standing up for the Flemish voter in Antwerp.
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6. Belgian Union – Union belge
The BUB or the Belgian Union – Union belge stands for a vintage state structure: Belgium as a unitary state. The party would prefer to overhaul federalism, in which our country consists of regions and communities with their own powers. Everything on one level, as before the first state reform in 1970.
The Belgian Union summarizes its program in ten points. Belgium must be “part of the European Union”, “diverse”, “sustainable” and “in solidarity”, it is said, among other things.
The party recently posted a recognizable photo and the names of various members of student association Reuzegom on its website. YouTuber Acid was previously punished for mentioning (ex)members of the student group in a video. After an article by VRT NWS, the photo on the BUB site was blurred and the names were removed.
The party hasn’t broken many pots yet. She doesn’t have any big names either. Party chairman Hans Van Cauter is active as a municipal councilor in Uccle, for the local party Uccle Vooruit. The BUB only stands up for the House and that in all provinces, except West Flanders.
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7. Agora
The Agora party goes to voters with an empty program. The party does not yet know what it wants to do in parliament: it will leave that to citizen panels drawn by lot during the legislature. Positions must be discussed in these panels, after which the sitting representative receives voting instructions. If there is no position, the MP abstains.
The Agora formula was already tested in Brussels during this legislature, without much success. The only member of parliament, Pepijn Kennis, resigned prematurely in 2023. He still believes in the party, but the legislative work was “really difficult” in a setting among “racial politicians,” he told Bruzz. Agora will present a pitch to the House on June 9 from Brussels, Walloon Brabant and Namur.
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8. Party for the Trees
Vooruit and Groen are “not progressive enough”: by way of introduction, chairman Luc Ferdinand does not shy away from big words in an interview with VRT NWS. His Party for the Trees (PvdB) describes its ideology as “ecocentrism”.
The party program reads like a eulogy for trees. They are not only good for the environment and climate, but also make us happy and calm. “They contain a wealth of knowledge, poetry and wisdom.” Romantic quotes about trees are highlighted throughout the manifesto, together with facts taken from Wikipedia, among others.
The PvdB prides itself on not being a one-issue party. For example, she demands a ban on war and nuclear weapons, she wants a place for “mild meditation” in society and she wants everyone to be able to live “decently and cheaply”. Drawing up the lists and obtaining sufficient signatures was no easy feat, chairman Ferdinand admits. He estimates his chances are low. The party only tries its luck on the Flemish list in Flemish Brabant.
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9. Viva Palestine
Viva Palestina focuses on one topic: the war between Israel and Hamas. The party is fully committed to Palestine. There is a genocide going on in Gaza, which the world cannot ignore and must therefore formally recognize, is stated in the party manifesto. Brussels must become Viva Palestine’s hub for support for the Palestinian cause. The “apartheid regime in Palestine” must be “dismantled.”
The driving force behind the party is opinion maker Dyab Abou Jahjah. He had been toying with the idea of setting up a party specifically for the Palestinian cause for some time. He is standing up for parliament in Brussels, where there is a large pro-Palestinian electorate. Something that has not escaped the attention of the PVDA – the party is also very pro-Palestinian and is therefore scoring well in the polls.
