Abstract

For the first time, the municipal election of 10 October 1976 was held in new units resulting from the merger of numerous boroughs. This is the reason why the political character of the poll became more outspoken.The results of the present election should be compared not only with the preceding municipal poll in 1970, but also with the result of the two parliamentary elections which took place since then.This analyses leads us to the conclusion that in the Walloon region, «Rassemblement Wallon» suffered an important setback in comparison with 1974 for the benefit of Christian Democrats and to a lesser extentof the Socialist Party.In the Flemish region, a great stability may be noted with respect to the opinion expressed in 1974. At the utmost, a very slight Socialist loss may be observed as wel! as a Liberal quasi status quo and a moderate rise for the Christian Democrats.Although FDF's progress with respect to 1974 cannot be denied, its extent is not sufficient to bring this party back to its 1971 record level. To conclude one might say that should the voters have voted in a similar way to elect a Parliament, the Chambers would not be much different from what they are now, but for a loss of seats for «Rassemblement Wallon» which would benefit to the Christian Democrats in the first place and to a lesser extent to the Socialists and PDF as well.