The elections might be over but there is a chance the campaign posters plastered across Brussels will stay up for a while longer.
Everywhere you look in Brussels, a barrage of political faces are likely staring back at you from one of the many election poster boards currently decorating the city. Belgians voted in three separate ballots on Sunday, and although the election campaign has come to a close, the posters may stick around for a while longer.
The Home Affairs Ministry makes the rules when it comes to election campaigning. A "black out period" comes into force exactly four months before an election, during which spending on advertising is regulated and posters may only be put up in public spaces at the discretion of each municipality, who must ensure that every party is represented equally.
Election posters in Place Fernand Cocq. Credit: The Brussels Times / Isabella Vivian
The municipality decides
However, there are no rules about proportionality for posters pasted in private spaces such as shop fronts, houses and vehicles. This means that business owners and other private individuals can advertise for whichever candidates they want and are not obliged to take down posters during any specific timeframe.
This caused a spat in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean in February, when Francophone liberals Mouvement Réformateur (MR) complained that the Socialist Party (PS) was enjoying unfair advertising gains, eventually securing a ban on campaign posters in the commune altogether.
While the Home Affairs Ministry strictly monitors the putting-up of posters, regulation is less stringent when it comes to removing them from public spaces. Again, municipalities have the final word, and with local elections on 13 October, a new campaign season will kick off on 13 July. There is therefore a temptation to leave all existing posters up rather than take them down again and start afresh in a month's time.
Some politicians have taken matters into their own hands: MR election candidate Xavier Mullens told L'Avenir that he decided to take down all of his posters on the afternoon of the vote. "It kept me busy and allowed me to pass the time until the results, rather than doing nothing and stressing."
