André Damseaux

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

André Damseaux (born March 5, 1937 in Verviers , † March 29, 2007 in Jalhay ) was a Belgian politician of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR). He was a long-time MP ( Chamber of Deputies , European Parliament , Parliament of the French Community ) and party president. Damseaux also briefly held the office of Prime Minister of the Walloon Region . At the local level he was mayor of Verviers.

resume

André Damseaux holds a diploma in diplomacy ( University of Liège (ULg), 1961) and political science (ULg, 1964). Prior to his studies he spent two years in the UK and Germany , where he improved his language skills. Damseaux started his professional life as a journalist for the newspaper La Meuse .

Political career

Damseaux's political career began at the local level in Verviers, where he was elected to the local council in 1965. In 1971 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the liberal PLP ( Parti de la liberté et du progrès , predecessor of today's MR), in which he became President of the Francophone Wing (PLPW) in 1973. Under the presidency of Damseaux, the PLP was renamed PRLW ( Parti des réformes et de la liberté de Wallonie ) after the merger with the Rassemblement wallon (RW), the party of Jean Gol , François Perin and Etienne Knoops . In 1979, he gave up his party chairmanship to Gol, who merged with the Brussels Liberals and renamed the party Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL).

André Damseaux was elected to the first European Parliament in 1977. In 1980 he returned to the Walloon Region to be appointed Prime Minister of the first government elected by the Walloon Regional Council in which the PRL, PS and PSC parties were proportionally represented. Damseaux gave this office to Jean-Maurice Dehousse (PS) after ten months as a result of an agreement . However, he remained Walloon Minister for the Administrative Oversight of Local Authorities and for External Relations. In 1985 he moved to the national government under Wilfried Martens ( CVP ) and became Minister for National Education. There Damseaux suffered some difficulties that he was forced to resign. He later stated that he regretted joining the national government.

Thereupon Damseaux left national politics and became mayor of Verviers for six years. He was unable to defend this office after the 1994 elections, and he also failed to make the leap to the regional parliament in 1995. Due to a constitutional uncertainty, which has been resolved today, André Damseaux replaced Alfred Evers ( PFF ) in the Parliament of the French Community, as he, as a regional representative from the German-speaking area, could not sit in the parliaments of the French and German-speaking communities at the same time .

André Damseaux ended his political career in the Walloon Parliament and in the Jalhay municipal council.

Honors

André Damseaux was in command of the Leopold Order . He was chosen by the Jules Destrée Institute as one of the 100 most important Walloon personalities of the twentieth century.

Overview of political offices

  • 1965–1999: Member of the Verviers parish council
  • 1971–1995: Member of the Chamber of Deputies (partially prevented)
  • 1977–1984: Member of the European Parliament (partially prevented)
  • 1980–1995: Member of the Walloon Parliament (partially prevented)
  • 1982–1985: Prime Minister of the Walloon Region, later Minister for Administrative Oversight and External Relations
  • 1985–1987: Minister for National Education in the Martens VI government
  • 1989–1994: Mayor of Verviers
  • 1996–1999: Member of the Parliament of the French Community (moved up)
  • 1999–2004: Member of the Walloon Parliament
  • 2001–2006: Member of the Jalhay Town Council

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lalibre.be: André Damseaux, le libéral des paradoxes (March 30, 2007) (French)
  2. ↑ See André Damseaux's 30th anniversary speech, available on the website of the Parliament of the French Community.
personal data
SURNAME Damseaux, André
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician, MEP, Walloon Prime Minister and Mayor
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Verviers
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 2007
Place of death Jalhay