In Italy the governing left was even split into eleven coalition-partners and this made it quite easy for the main opposition party to overtake the governing Democrats of the Left (DS) of prime minister Massimo D'Alema (17,4 % / 15 seats). First party became Forza Italia of the opposition leader and media-tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, which reached 25,2 % and 22 seats. The real surprise in Italy was however the success of the personal lists of Mrs. Emma Bonino, a popular EU-Commissioner for Fishing and Human Aids, and Romano Prodi, the next President of the EU-Commission. The Radical Emma Bonino List came up to 8,5 % (7 seats) and Prodi's Democrats reached the same number of seats with 7,7 %. Both party's were founded only a few months ago and took advantage from the general disaffection towards classical parties in Italy.
In the Netherlands the Greens (11,9 % / 4 seats / +3) were also the clear winners, gaining voters especially from the leftish Liberals of D-66 (5,8 % 2 seats / -2). Among the three biggest parties the Christian Democrats (26,9 / 9 seats / -1) and the Social Democrat Labor (20,1 % / 6 seats / -2) had some losses, while the Liberals remained stable (19,7 % / 6 seats).
A food-scandal in Belgium
A special situation was given in Belgium, where the governing Christian Democrats of prime minister Jean Luc Dehaene, a well-fed Belgian who had run the country for seven years, were punished along with their Socialist coalition partner for mishandling a shameful series of scandals. After police neglects over a pedophilia clique in high places two years ago, the last crisis over dioxin in animal food reached the government only a few weeks before the elections. Thus the Christian Democrats fell to 18,9 % losing two seats and the Socialists to 18,8 % losing one. Both parties conquered five seats and were reached at this quote by the Greens (15,8 %) who came up from two seats in the previous EU-parliament. The united Flemish Nationalists maintained their strength (16,4 % / 4 seats), as well as the Liberals (23,5 % / 6 seats), who are now the first party in Belgium. Since the result of the contemporarily held national elections were quite similar, the leader of the Flemish Liberals, Guy Verhofstadt, is now expected to form the new government together with the Greens and another coalition partner.
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