Abstract

At the Belgian parliamentary elections in June 1999, the Flemish nationalist party 'Volksunie' which formed an alliance with the social-liberal ID21 progressed slightly. On July 10, 1999, the party decided to participate in the purple-green-yellow Flemish government, but at the same time they decided to stay out of the federal Belgian government. Two years later, the VU-Party Bureau decided that due to deep divisions within the party it had become impossible for the party to continue. The 15.000 party members were asked to judge about the future of the party. Because no party project managed to obtain a 50 %-majority in the party member referendum, the VU dissappeared. Two new parties - the 'Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie' and 'Spirit' - emerged from the ruins of the VU. The collapse of the VU can be seen as the most far-reaching change in the Flemish party political context of the last decade. This article focusses on the last two and a half years of the VU and on the first year of the N-VA and Spirit. In a first part, achronological overview is build up. This part provides an overview «from day to day» of the events that played a role in the collapse of the VU and the creation of the N-VA and Spirit. The second part of the article draws amore morphological picture of the VU, the N-VA and Spirit: data are presented about the internal organisation of these parties. By offering an extensive overview of facts and figures, it is the intention of the authors to provide a solid guidelinefor further investigation.