André Flahaut

André Flahaut (born August 18, 1955 in Walhain ) is a Belgian politician of the Parti Socialiste (PS). Flahaut held a ministerial post at federal level from 1995 to 2007, including eight years as Minister of Defense . From 2010 to 2014 he was President of the Chamber of Deputies and has since been a Minister in the Government of the French Community . He has also been active as a local politician at the local level for many years. Flahaut was also Vice President of the PS.

Life

André Flahaut, holder of a license in political and administrative sciences ( Université Libre de Bruxelles , ULB), has been active in the PS since 1973. He took his first steps on the political stage as a councilor in his home municipality Walhain and later as a provincial councilor for the province of Brabant .

In 1995, Flahaut was named Federal Minister for Public Office in the Dehaene II government under Jean-Luc Dehaene ( CVP ). When the socialists formed a coalition with the Liberals (and initially also with the Greens) under Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt ( VLD ) in 1999 , André Flahaut was ultimately entrusted with the post of Defense Minister, which he held for eight years. During this time he intended to reform the army from a combat force to a humanitarian intervention force. He also spoke out against the Iraq war in 2003 and created tense relations between Washington and Brussels when he publicly announced that "if he were an American, he would vote for the Democrats ". In 2007 he was ousted from office by Pieter De Crem ( CD&V ) and since then has had to meet as a simple MP. It was precisely the fact that De Crem - one of his fiercest critics when he was still in the opposition - became defense minister that led André Flahaut to continue to act as "shadow defense minister" (based on the tradition of the shadow cabinet ) and, despite him the majority met to regularly attack the incumbent defense minister. Flahaut even described De Crem as "stupid" (French "con").

On July 20, 2010, Flahaut was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies, replacing Patrick Dewael ( Open VLD ) from this office. He held this office until June 30, 2014: After the federal elections in 2014 , in which the PS suffered slight losses, Patrick Dewael was re-elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. Since then, Flahaut has held the office of Minister for Budget, Public Service and Administrative Simplification in the Government of the French Community (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) under Prime Minister Rudy Demotte (PS).

Within the PS, Flahaut was first an employee (since 1979), then from 1989 to 1995 director of the study center " Emile Vandervelde " (IEV). At the same time he also took over the chairmanship of the Office de la naissance et de l'enfant (ONE), the Walloon Office for Births and Small Children. Since 1993 he has been chairman of the socialist health insurance fund of Walloon Brabant . After all, Flahaut was Vice President of the PS.

At the local level, André Flahaut was less successful. Although he positioned himself several times as a candidate for mayor, first in the municipality of Walhain, then in the cities of Wavre and Nivelles , he has been denied this office to this day.

Honors

Flahaut is in command of the Order of the Leopold . Since December 7th, 2009 he has had the honorary title of " Minister of State ".

Overview of political offices

1982 - 1994: Member of the Walhain parish council

1987 - 1991: Member of the Provincial Council of the Province of Brabant

1994-1995: Member of the Walloon Parliament

1994 - 2005: Member of the Wavre Municipal Council

1994 - today : Member of the federal Chamber of Deputies (partially prevented)

1995 - 1999: Federal Minister for Public Office in the Dehaene II government

1999 - 2007: Federal Minister of Defense in the Verhofstadt I and Verhofstadt II governments

2006 - today : Member of the Nivelles municipal council

2010-2014: President of the Chamber of Deputies

2014 - present : Minister of the French Community for the Budget, Civil Service and Administrative Simplification

Web links

Commons : André Flahaut - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Lalibre.be: Flahaut provoque la colère de Washington (January 31, 2004) (French)
↑ Lalibre.be: Flahaut: De Crem a une façon de travailler tout à fait curieuse (October 23, 2009) (French)
↑ Lalibre.be: La guerre Flahaut-De Crem (December 24, 2007) (French)
↑ Lesoir.be: André Flahaut élu président de la Chambre (20 July 2010) (fr.)
↑ Lesoir.be: Patrick Dewael (VLD) élu président de la Chambre (June 30, 2014) (French)
↑ Lavenir.net: Flahaut ministre: "Le parti me donne une nouvelle mission!" (July 22, 2014) (French)

personal data
SURNAME	Flahaut, André
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian politician and former Minister of Defense
DATE OF BIRTH	August 18, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH	Whale grove

[1] Lalibre.be: Flahaut provoque la colère de Washington (January 31, 2004) (French)

[2] Lalibre.be: Flahaut: De Crem a une façon de travailler tout à fait curieuse (October 23, 2009) (French)

[3] Lalibre.be: La guerre Flahaut-De Crem (December 24, 2007) (French)

[4] Lesoir.be: André Flahaut élu président de la Chambre (20 July 2010) (fr.)

[5] Lesoir.be: Patrick Dewael (VLD) élu président de la Chambre (June 30, 2014) (French)

[6] Lavenir.net: Flahaut ministre: "Le parti me donne une nouvelle mission!" (July 22, 2014) (French)