Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has declared his resignation following his party's defeat in elections held on 'Super Sunday'. The Flemish Liberals and Democrats party (Open VLD), led by De Croo, suffered losses in federal, regional, and European Parliament elections, prompting his decision to step down.

The elections, spanning from June 6 to 9, encompassed voting for federal and regional governments alongside the European Parliament. Right-wing parties saw an upswing in their electoral fortunes, while projections indicate that moderate factions are likely to maintain their majority in the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the 27-member European Union (EU).

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expressed his resignation announcement following a challenging electoral outcome. Speaking after his party's defeat, De Croo stated, "For us, it’s a particularly difficult evening. We lost. As of tomorrow, I will resign as prime minister."

In both the Belgian federal and regional elections, De Croo’s Open VLD party faced what has been described as a "heavy defeat", with projections indicating a potential loss of half of its seats, according to DW News.

In the European Parliament elections, De Croo’s Open VLD secured the 10th position, garnering a modest 5.51 per cent of the vote share, as reported by the EU’s official website. The election results saw the far-right VB party leading with 13.86 per cent of the votes, followed by the Reformist Movement (MR) at 13.58 per cent, and the right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) at 13.37 per cent.

The right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has emerged as the largest party in Belgium’s federal elections, surpassing expectations of a victory for the extreme far-left party, Vlaams Belang (VB).

According to Euronews, the nationalist N-VA secured 18.6 per cent of the votes, while VB attained 15.4 per cent. Alexander De Croo’s Open VLD party garnered 5.8 per cent of the votes.

The report also projected that the far-left Pvda/PTB, the left-wing Vooruit party, and the Christian-Democrats CD&V are each expected to receive approximately 9 per cent of the votes.

Belgium is now embarking on intricate negotiations to form a new government, a process notorious for its duration, sometimes lasting over a year as seen after elections in 2010 and 2019. During this interim period until a new government is formed, Alexander De Croo will continue to serve as the Caretaker Prime Minister of Belgium.

Image source: Hindustan Times