Full general elections were held in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 14 October 1894, with run-off elections held on 21 October 1894. The elections followed several major reforms: they were the first held under universal male suffrage for those over the age of 25.Nohlen & Stöver, p272 This followed the abolition of tax qualifications, and increased the number of voters tenfold. Voting was also made compulsory. Provincial senators were introduced in addition to the existing directly elected ones. The electoral reforms were implemented in 1893 under the Catholic government led by

Auguste Beernaert Auguste Marie François Beernaert (26 July 1829 – 6 October 1912) was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Life Born in Ostend in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands 1829, h ...

, who had been in power for nearly ten years, but who resigned because his proposal for

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

was rejected. A government led by

Jules de Burlet Jules Philippe Marie de Burlet (10 April 1844 – 1 March 1897) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician. Born in Ixelles, de Burlet was educated as a lawyer. He practised law in Nivelles, where he made his home, and he served as mayor of the to ...

took over in March 1894. The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won all seats in every Flemish arrondissement, in Brussels and in seven rural Walloon arrondissements, giving a total of 104 of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. The

Belgian Labour Party The Belgian Labour Party ( nl, Belgische Werkliedenpartij, BWP; french: Parti ouvrier belge, POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist P ...

gained parliamentary representation for the first time, winning all seats of Mons, Soignies, Charleroi, Verviers, 6 seats in Liège and one in Namur. Meanwhile, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, despite receiving more votes than the socialists, won only 20 seats and thus lost two-thirds of its seats. This was caused by the concentration of socialists in industrial Walloon areas, compared to the dispersed presence of liberal voters throughout the country. This highlighted the need for a proportional system, which would eventually be introduced in 1899.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

76 senators (half the number of representatives) were directly elected and 26 senators were chosen by the provincial councils, giving a total of 102 senators.

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate.List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1894-1895)
/ref> There were no changes in districts and seat distribution compared to the previous election, except for the introduction of provincial senators.

References

{{Belgian elections

1890s elections in Belgium

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...