Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

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Parti Socialiste
Socialist Party
logo
Elio Di Rupo
Party leader Elio Di Rupo
Secretary General Gilles Mahieu
vice-chairman Willy Demeyer
Laurette Onkelinx
Olga Zrihen
founding April 5, 1885 (POB)
June 9, 1945 (PSB)
October 28, 1978 (PS)
Place of foundation Brussels (POB, PSB, PS)
Headquarters Parti Socialiste
13, bld. de l'Empereur
1000 Brussels
Alignment Social Democracy ,
Democratic Socialism
Colours) red
Belgian Chamber of Deputies
20/150
senate
7/60
DG Parliament
4/25
Walloon Parliament
23/75
Brussels Parliament
17/89
Number of members approx. 95,000
Minimum age 16 years
Average age approx. 50–60 years
International connections Socialist International (SI), Progressive Alliance
MEPs
2/21
European party Party of European Socialists (PES / PES)
EP Group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D)
Website www.ps.be
www.sp-dg.be

The Parti Socialiste ( PS ) ( German  Socialist Party ) is a Belgian party with a social democratic profile, which has been running under the name Socialist Party (SP) in the francophone part of Belgium ( Wallonia and Brussels ) and in the German-speaking community since 1978 .

After the break-up of the Belgian Socialist Party (PSB-BSP) and the split from the Dutch- speaking SP (today sp.a), the PS has been the largest party for decades, especially in Wallonia. She has been involved in almost every governing coalition in the communities and regions of the southern part of the country since 1980. She is currently the Prime Minister of the Walloon Region ( Paul Magnette ), the French Community ( Rudy Demotte ) and the Brussels-Capital Region ( Rudi Vervoort ). The PS was also represented in the federal government until October 2014 , where it provided the Belgian prime minister in Elio Di Rupo (see Di Rupo government ); After the parliamentary elections on May 25, 2014, however, the PS was pushed back into the opposition at the federal level for the first time since 1988.

The PS belongs to the Social Democratic Party of Europe (PES) and the Socialist International (SI) at European and international level . After his resignation as Prime Minister, Elio Di Rupo is again party president.

Origin and orientation

The Parti Socialiste is a social democratic political party. Since it was founded as the Belgian Workers' Party in the 19th century, it has been able to win a large part of its votes from the “ working class ”. Accordingly, it stands for a left , socio-economic profile in the political spectrum.

The party found its historical ideological principle in the so-called “Charter of Quaregnon ”, which was adopted on March 25 and 26, 1894 on the occasion of the tenth congress of the Belgian Workers' Party under the leadership of Émile Vandervelde . This charter shows distinctly Marxist traits (collectivization of the means of production, ...) and rejects capitalism in the context of the class struggle ( proletariat against bourgeoisie ) . Although the Quaregnon Charter is still officially part of the party's program today, the PS has not evolved into a radical left party. Rather, it preferred a pragmatic approach to its original ideology. The PS defines its guiding values ​​today with the words “ solidarity , brotherhood , equality , justice and freedom ”. At the international level, the PS is a member of the Socialist International (SI) and the European-friendly Social Democratic Party of Europe (SPE).

With the socialist trade union ( FGTB ), the socialist health insurance companies, the socialist cultural associations, the left press (now gone, formerly Le Peuple ) etc., the PS forms the classic “ socialist pillar ” in Belgian society.

organization structure

PS is located on the Boulevard de l'Empereur in Brussels

The internal structure of the Parti Socialiste is regulated by the statutes of the party, which were adopted on the occasion of the congress of December 2, 2000 in Brussels (in the meantime changed several times).

General and national authorities

  • At the head of the party is the party president , who is elected by party members for four years. He determines the political position of the party, coordinates the positions of the regional authorities, negotiates government coalitions and represents the party. The party's vice-presidents act on his behalf in the president's absence.
  • The general secretary of the party, on the other hand, takes over day-to-day business and executes party decisions. He is elected by Congress and is responsible to the party office.
  • The general conditions of the political position are recorded by the party office , which sometimes draws up the election programs and analyzes the political situation in the medium and long term. It meets at least twice a month and includes the party president, the general secretary, representatives of the federations and various people with an advisory role.
  • The party's congress , for its part, determines the general political line. It is composed of representatives from the various federations (as well as advisory mandataries) and meets at least once a year at the invitation of the Congress Bureau, which also sets the agenda. Congress can also vote on a vote of no confidence in the party president.
  • The national bodies also include the Émile Vandervelde Institute (IEV - PS Study Office), the College of Federation Secretaries and various other bodies. Various associations also support the party ( Action Commune Culturelle Socialiste - ACCS, Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes - MSJ, Ré.SO-J, ...). The non-profit association (VoG) FONSOC ultimately serves as the funding body of the Parti Socialiste.

Federal, regional and local authorities

  • The Walloon Federations, on the one hand, and the Brussels Federation, on the other hand, may hold separate regional congresses to discuss matters that are of purely Walloon or Brussels interest.
  • The federation determines the local or, if applicable, communal associations ( Union Socialiste Communale - USC) of the party. They represent the PS at the lowest level and set the guidelines for community policy. The assembly of the association elects the committee and president charged with running the local association or the USC.

history

Background: The PSB-BSP

Social democracy in Belgium, which is based on a program of social reforms and partly also on a secular worldview, has its origins in the nineteenth century. The "class struggle" was first initiated by the Belgian Workers' Party, the POB-BWP (French Parti Ouvrier Belge , Dutch Belgian Werkliedenpartij ), and later by the Belgian Socialist Party, the PSB-BSP (French Parti Socialiste Belge , Dutch Belgian Socialist Party ).

The PSB-BSP gathered advocates of the unitary state and federalism , as well as some more radical elements. Since 1937–1938, however, various congresses for Flemings and Walloons were held within the party, which was expressly permitted by the statutes of the PSB-BSP (formerly Article 16). At the same time, some Walloon federations of the PSB (namely those of Liège, Huy-Waremme, Namur, Charleroi, Mons and Nivelles ) took part in the "Walloon National Congress" (French Congrès national wallon ), which met from 1945 to 1959 , which marked the birth of the Walloon regional identity applies.

At the Flemish and Walloon Congresses of 1967 the demand for a restructuring of the party was expressed. The congress of the PSB-BSP on March 16, 1968 took note of this and also gave the party's direction for the upcoming “ first state reform ”. The socialists spoke out clearly in favor of a new Belgium that recognizes Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels and provides them with the necessary institutions, responsibilities and financial resources. This tendency towards dualism within the party was confirmed when the then party leader Léo Collard resigned and after the party elections on January 24, 1971, a national dual leadership was set up for the first time: Edmond Leburton on the Walloon side and Jos Van Eynde on the Flemish side .

1978–1981: PS was founded

André Cools, first president of PS

The split in the PSB-BSP was initiated by the participation in the Tindemans II government under Prime Minister Leo Tindemans ( CVP ), which, alongside the socialists, consisted of the already separated Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats (CVP and PSC ) and the Flemish nationalists of the Volksunie (VU ) and the lobbyists of the Francophone Brussels ( FDF ). This government had set itself an extremely ambitious state reform project for Belgium (the so-called Egmont Pact ). The PSB-BSP, under the double chairmanship of André Cools on the Walloon side and Karel Van Miert on the Flemish side, had spoken out in favor of government participation with a majority of 96.2%.

However, the specification and implementation of the Egmont and later the so-called Stuyvenberg Pact proved extremely difficult (especially with regard to the Brussels question), so that the differences of opinion between Flemings and Walloons became too great in the end and Prime Minister Tindemans split up on October 11th Was forced to resign in 1978 and triggered a deep national crisis. Even within the PSB-BSP, no uniform line for the state reform could be identified. While Van Miert called for an internal reorganization of the party, Cools suspected the Flemish wing of wanting to break solidarity with the Walloons.

The national party congress of the PSB-BSP, originally planned for October 28, 1968, was postponed indefinitely by André Cools. On October 23, the Permanent Committee of the Walloon Socialist Federations and the Brussels Federation decided to simply rename the Francophone wing of the PSB-BSP "Parti Socialiste" (PS). On October 28, a congress was called in Brussels, which expressed its confidence in the "Provisional Committee of the Walloon and Brussels Socialists" under the leadership of Cools. Finally, at a congress on November 26, 1978 in Namur, the statutes and the electoral program of the PS were adopted, which provided for a very high degree of autonomy for Brussels and its peripheral communities.

The reaction of the Flemish socialists was violent and in a congress on November 26th in Ghent , the BSP decided to represent a “Belgium in twos (and no longer in threes) in which Brussels would be under the supervision of the central authority. The designation “BSP” with the title “Vlaamse Socialisten” was retained. On October 31, 1978, a consultation committee between the PS and the Vlaamse Socialisten was created.

The split in the PSB-BSP resulted in the division of internal party bodies and the party study service Institut Emile Vandervelde. The other components of the “ socialist pillar ” such as the socialist trade union (FGTB-ACVV), the health insurance company or other cooperatives, on the other hand, were not affected by the party split and remained national. If the PS had now become linguistically more homogeneous, it was not exclusively French-speaking: in the Brussels PS there were still a few Dutch -speaking representatives to be found and in the German-speaking community in eastern Belgium the local (German-speaking) socialist mandataries were members of the PS who were there "Socialist Party" calls.

The new elections held on October 17, 1978 (parliament and provinces) won the PS in the Walloon part of the country for itself, but took third place in Brussels behind the FDF and the PSC. After a difficult period of 99 days in the formation of a government, the Martens I government under Wilfried Martens (CVP), which was made up of Christian Democrats, Socialists and the FDF , finally received parliamentary confidence. The PS vice-premier was Guy Spitaels . However, despite some progress in state reform (including the creation of the regions, with one exception for Brussels), the government was so unstable that Prime Minister Martens resigned after the expulsion of the FDF and two further reforms, and Mark Eyskens (CVP) the Government business took over. However, Eyskens could not achieve pacification either: the PS demanded greater autonomy in order to save the Walloon steel industry , which was in decline , and the regionalization of this matter. Since no agreement could be reached with the CVP, the M. Eyskens government failed in September 1981 and new elections were scheduled.

Within the PS, André Cools had decided to give up the chairmanship of the party in 1981. In the party elections, Guy Spitaels, favored by Cools, ran, as did Ernest Glinne , who represented the party's left wing and was supported by Leburton, and Alain Van der Biest . Only in a run-off election could Spitaels prevail over Glinne with 311 to 282 votes.

1981–1987: Opposition work in parliament

In the run-up to the national and provincial elections, the PS positioned itself at a party congress on October 4, 1981 in Montigny-le-Tilleul for a more thorough federalization of the country and a regionalization of the so-called industrial sectors of national interest (such as shipbuilding, steel and the Textile industry).

In the elections of November 8, 1981, the PS achieved a stable result (still the first Walloon party, winning three seats in the Chamber and losing one seat in the Senate ), while the Liberals in Flanders ( PVV ) and in the French-speaking part of the country ( PRL ) could win a victory at the expense of the Christian Socials. However, the government coalition under Prime Minister Martens ( Martens V government ) was formed by the latter, so that the PS and the SP found themselves in the opposition at the national level. At the regional level, however, the situation was different. The councils of the Walloon Region and the French Community are made up of national MPs and directly elected senators from the French language group. Due to the predominance of the PS in Wallonia, the PS politicians Jean-Maurice Dehousse in the Walloon Region and Philippe Moureaux in the French Community were given the presidency of the respective executives.

The PS was thus in a situation that had not been seen until then. At the national level it spoke out against the austerity measures of the Martens - Gol government , while at the regional and community level it was forced to cooperate with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals.

In the local elections of 1982, the PS was able to expand its strong position and its local roots in Wallonia. In the cities of Charleroi , La Louvière , Huy , Waremme , Ath as well as in the Liège periphery municipalities ( Seraing , Flémalle , Grâce-Hollogne and Herstal ) it received an absolute majority, while in Liège , Mons , Tournai and Namur it was dependent on a coalition partner . In the Brussels municipalities, however, an absolute majority was only achieved in Evere . In the European elections of 1984, the PS, which included the controversial mayor José Happart from the municipality of Voeren as a free candidate on its list, won a victory in the French-speaking part of the country.

These successes did not help her after the national and provincial elections of October 13, 1985, however. Although the PS was able to consolidate its 1981 result, the government continued to consist of Christian Democrats and Liberals. This cooperation has also continued at regional level, so that the PS has now been ousted into the opposition both in the national parliament and in the councils of the Walloon Region and the French Community. Only in the German-speaking community was it still involved in government affairs.

However, the Martens VI government was characterized by extremely great instability, which was marked by budgetary issues and the language dispute surrounding the municipality of Voeren. Finally, after a final reshuffle , Prime Minister Wilfried Martens had to submit his resignation and early elections were scheduled for December 13, 1987.

1987–1999: return to government, Cools murder and "Agusta affair"

In the 1987 parliamentary and provincial elections, the PS emerged as the big winner (around 44% of the vote in Wallonia); the CVP, however, lost votes. The positions of the Socialists and Christian Socials were not easy to unite, especially with regard to the Voeren problem. Violent internal tensions in the PS were the result, so that Spitaels had to hand over the leadership of the negotiations to Moureaux. Only the involvement of the Flemish nationalist VU led to an agreement and the formation of the Martens VIII government . Philippe Moureaux became vice-premier for the PS and also led the subsequent negotiations on the third reform of the state.

In 1989 the European Parliament and the Council of the Brussels-Capital Region were elected. The PS prevailed in both of them: with José Happart on a European level and with Charles Picqué in Brussels. Within the PS, this period was also characterized by the difficulty of finding a unified position with regard to the Belgian state reform: While some of the party leaders expressly spoke out in favor of further regionalization (such as Happart with the Wallonie région d'Europe movement ), it became apparent especially the Brussels socialists are more skeptical, especially against the background of the financially badly ailing French community. On the occasion of the Ans Congress it was agreed that the Walloon and Brussels regions should take over some responsibilities from the French Community, which was implemented in 1993. The Liège section of the party represented a particular source of conflict within the PS: The Groupe Perron association , in which Happart and Dehousse were also represented, fought against the influence of the Liege periphery, in particular against the influence of André Cools . Spitaels was unable to defuse the situation, so that the conflict culminated in Cools being gunned down in front of his house by two Tunisian contract killers on July 18, 1991 , and died on the spot. It is still unknown who the exact client was.

At the national level, various sources of conflict loomed up again in the early 1990s due to disagreements in the government. VU, in particular, pushed for a deepening of the state reform; a compromise could be found here. The legalization of abortion , proposed by PS Senator Roger Lallemand , was passed with the liberal opposition and against the votes of the Christian-Social majority partners. The government finally found its premature end in the fact that the Flemish parties SP and VU wanted to prevent the export of Walloon arms to Saudi Arabia , which was advocated by the PS. As a result, VU ultimately left the government. The new Martens IX government agreed on a regionalization of export licenses for weapons. For the implementation of the state reform, the parliament was dissolved and new elections arranged.

Both the CVP and PS lost votes in the November 24, 1991 elections. However, since the formation of a government among the Liberals failed, the previous coalition was continued, but for the first time under Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene (CVP). At regional and community level, the PS reached an agreement with the PSC under Melchior Wathelet : Spitaels surprisingly decided to take over the chairmanship of the Walloon regional executive itself. In 1992 he therefore handed over the chairmanship to Philippe Busquin .

In the course of the investigation into the Cools murder, the judiciary uncovered other scandals in the 1990s, in which PS politicians were primarily involved. The " Agusta Affair" (or "Agusta Dassault Affair "), which involved bribes that had flowed to politicians when purchasing 45 attack helicopters for the Belgian air force , and the "INUSOP affair", which was illegal Party financing was involved, meant that the PS greats Guy Spitaels, Guy Coëme and Guy Mathot had to resign in January 1994. In the European and local council elections that took place in the same year, however, the PS was able to limit the damage to its image.

The parliamentary elections of May 21, 1995, in which the reformed federal parliament and the regional parliaments were directly elected for the first time, resulted in a relatively small step backwards for the PS. The subsequent formation of a government took place under the sign of continuity: Christian Socialists and Socialists formed a majority in all parliaments and Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene led his second government at the federal level . The only exception was Brussels, where the PS formed a coalition with the liberal alliance PRL-FDF. However, the legislative period turned out to be extremely uncomfortable for the majority: In addition to the various PS processes (Cools, Agusta, ...), the " Dutroux affair" came to light in 1996 , from which it emerged that several children became a known pedophile sex offender Victims could fall because the communication between the different police services was not right. Finally, Belgium came under international criticism in 1999 in the context of the so-called " dioxin crisis" (contaminated food). Numerous ministers had to resign and in the federal elections on June 13, 1999, the outgoing majority consequently lost the confidence of the voters.

1999–2007: Change of coalition and "Carolorégienne affair"

Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, former Walloon Prime Minister

The 1999 elections produced a mixed result for the PS: While it remained first in the Chamber and in the Walloon Parliament, the PS was clearly defeated in the European Parliament and in the Senate by the liberal PRL-FDF- MCC and lost its second place in Brussels to the Greens of Ecolo . When the coalitions were formed, the Christian Socials were pushed into the opposition for the first time since 1958 and the so-called “ rainbow coalition ” made up of liberals, socialists and Greens under Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt ( VLD ) was concluded; Laurette Onkelinx became PS Deputy Prime Minister. The same composition was found in the communities and regions (except in Brussels, where Ecolo remained in opposition); In the German-speaking Community, the PS-SP received the post of Prime Minister for the first time with Karl-Heinz Lambertz , although only a third party.

Since Philippe Busquin joined the Prodi Commission under Romano Prodi , he gave up the party chairmanship in 1999. The then Prime Minister of the Walloon Region and Mayor of Mons, Elio Di Rupo , emerged victorious from the party elections . However, only a year later, Di Rupo ceded the chairmanship of the regional executive to his party colleague Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe in order to deal with the internal affairs of the PS.

The absence of the Christian Socials in the federal government made it possible to pass some more "sensitive" legislative initiatives supported by the PS (such as the legalization of euthanasia or same-sex marriage ) and a fifth reform of the state in 2001. But also some competition with the Greens who opposed the creation of a large left-wing movement with the PS, shaped the work of the socialists in the Verhofstadt government.

The federal elections on May 18, 2003 marked the end of the rainbow coalition after a heavy loss of votes for the Greens, who, with the collective resignation of all their ministers, had ended the legislative period in a scandal. Since both the socialists and the liberals were able to win votes for themselves and achieved comparable results, the second Verhofstadt government was continued as a social-liberal coalition without the Greens.

In the community, regional and European elections of June 13, 2004, however, the PS emerged as the clear winner, both in Wallonia and in Brussels, where it ousted the Liberals ( now united as MR ) from the top. At the level of the Walloon Region, the PS neglected its liberal partner and from then on formed a majority under Van Cauwenberghe with the central humanists of the cdH (formerly Christian Socialists), while in Brussels Ecolo was included in the Picqué government. In the German-speaking community, the Greens left the majority, which now consisted of socialists, liberals and the regionally-minded PJU-PDB .

In 2005, the PS caused a furore with another scandal: in Charleroi, the social housing association “La Carolorégienne” embezzled massive amounts of public funds when awarding public contracts . Two socialist lay judges were removed from office and one of them, Claude Despiegeleer , was even taken into custody. The "Carolorégienne Affair" drew wide circles and further irregularities were uncovered, which indicated an organized clientelism system in Charleroi. The PS, which had had an absolute majority in the city council since 1977, was at the center of criticism. Charleroi's "powerful man", the Walloon Prime Minister Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, had to end up having to commit himself because of his close friendship with the two lay judges and a number of offenses that had taken place during his tenure as Mayor of Charleroi ( "système Van Cau" ), Bending pressure from public opinion and the media: On September 30, 2005, he submitted his resignation from his ministerial office. Elio Di Rupo announced that he would pursue the " parvenus " in his party and took over the chairmanship of the regional executive himself. Other PS giants, such as the incumbent Mayor of Charleroi at the time, Charles Van Gompel , or the former Walloon Prime Minister and Mayor of Namur, Bernard Anselme , fell as a result of various subsequent scandals.

After the municipal council elections on October 8, 2006, the crisis-ridden PS had to form a coalition with other parties in cities where it had partially held an absolute majority up to that point (as in Charleroi, where the mayor's office went to the cdH) or was completely in the opposition pushed (as in Namur). Nevertheless, it brought in fairly stable results in many places.

2007–2014: crisis years and first PS premier

Elio Di Rupo, Prime Minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014

From 2007, Belgium was marked by two deep crises, which had serious political consequences: On the one hand, the internal state crisis (threatened breakup of the country), and on the other hand, the international financial and economic crisis (sometimes high losses at major Belgian banks and the euro crisis ) .

The federal elections of 2007 represented a first since the introduction of the indifferent right to vote in 1919: For the first time, the PS was not the strongest force in the southern part of the country, but was overtaken there by the MR. Also due to the severe losses of the Open VLD , these elections meant the end of the social-liberal alliance under Verhofstadt. The big election winner was the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (now CD&V ), who had built his election campaign especially on the demand for a new state reform with increased regionalization - also under pressure from the cartel partner N-VA (successor to the Volksunie). A government made up of Christian Democrats and Liberals to the exclusion of the still crisis-ridden PS did not come about after failed negotiations on state reform and a first long state crisis. It was only when the PS, albeit the big loser in the elections, was invited to the coalition talks that the Leterme government was finally formed after the Flemish parties had significantly lowered their demands for state reform and the protracted discussion about the split in the Brussels-Halle constituency. Vilvoorde (BHV) had been postponed. Since the also weakened Flemish socialists of the sp.a did not want to follow the PS into the government, an “ asymmetrical ” federal government was formed for the first time (where a Francophone party was not in the coalition with its Flemish “counterpart”). Elio Di Rupo was re-elected party president despite the election defeat, but left the Walloon government in favor of Rudy Demotte .

However, the government soon had to deal with the effects of the international financial crisis. As a result of the so-called " Fortis affair", in which judicial circles reported that political pressure had been exerted on the judges who dealt with irregularities in the sale of the almost insolvent Fortis group to the bank BNP Paribas , and thus the separation of powers injured, the Leterme government resigned on December 19, 2008 after nine months in office. After a brief interim government under Herman Van Rompuy (who was later designated as the first permanent President of the European Council ), Leterme, who had meanwhile been rehabilitated, quickly took over his second government in November 2009 , in which the PS was still represented without the sp.a.

At the regional level, the PS was able to improve its image again and, especially in times of economic crisis, score points as the “protector of ordinary workers” in relation to the financial world. In the regional elections on June 7, 2009, the socialists lost votes to Ecolo, but at least in Wallonia they remained the most important party with 32%. There, and also in Brussels, “ olive tree coalitions” were accordingly formed from socialists, center humanists and the Greens, with the PS continuing to claim the prime ministerial posts of the communities and regions. In the meantime, the PS had hit the headlines again at the local level: The former Senate President and long-time incumbent mayor of Huy , Anne-Marie Lizin , was expelled from the PS in 2009 for embezzling public funds. In the same year Didier Donfut had to resign under pressure from the public when it became known that as a minister he was also an “independent advisor” and received an additional annual fee of around 143,000 euros. Michel Daerden , one of the most popular PS politicians (“Daerdenmania”) and former minister, was for his part ousted from the post of mayor in 2011 in the municipality of Ans by his own majority; The reason was internal disputes.

The federal government has since experienced considerable internal tensions due to the lack of results in terms of state reform. Since no solution could still be found for the "BHV" problem, the Flemish Liberals decided to leave the federal government and to withdraw their trust. Leterme resigned on April 22nd, 2010, the king dissolved the federal parliament and new elections were scheduled for June 13th. The election resulted in a strengthening of the Flemish nationalist and economically right-wing N-VA in Flanders and a consolidation of the supremacy of the PS in the south. This resulted in a national crisis of over 541 days in which the leading party presidents Bart De Wever (N-VA) and Elio Di Rupo (PS) neither reached an agreement on the planned state reform nor a joint response to the financial crisis, the adoption of an austerity budget and the reduction of the national debt succeeded. Only after the Flemish nationalists had definitely left the negotiations did the Flemish and Walloon Socialists, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Greens reach an agreement on September 15, 2011 on the division of BHV and on October 4 on the overall package of the sixth state reform. The Greens were not invited to the negotiations to form a federal government under Formateur Di Rupo, which began afterwards . On December 1, 2011, just a few days after the rating agency Standard & Poor’s lowered Belgium's rating from AA + to AA with a negative outlook, the Di Rupo government was finally established . Elio Di Rupo became the first Walloon (and socialist) Prime Minister of Belgium since Leburton in 1973, the first Francophone Prime Minister since Paul Vanden Boeynants (PSC) in 1978 and the first PS Prime Minister of Belgium at all. At the same time, he left the provisional party chairmanship to Thierry Giet, the until then little-known group leader of the PS in the chamber .

The local elections of 2012, from which the PS emerged stronger than in the last elections, resulted in a larger chair move within the party: Paul Magnette , now Mayor of Charleroi, decided to leave the federal government and was elected as the new party president. He was replaced by Jean-Pascal Labille in the government. In Brussels, Laurette Onkelinx took over the chairmanship of the Brussels PS Federation from Rudi Vervoort , who in turn replaced Charles Picqué on May 7, 2013 at the head of the Brussels government.

2014 to date: Opposition to the Kamikaze coalition

The elections of May 25, 2014 were held simultaneously at federal, regional and European level. Even if the PS continued to be the strongest party on the French-speaking side, it nevertheless suffered slight losses; the MR was able to record a significant increase in votes for itself. In Flanders, on the other hand, the N-VA emerged from the polls as the big winner. The formation of the government was very different at the different levels of the country: While the King carried out various explorations with Bart De Wever and Charles Michel (MR) as informators, the PS took the initiative for coalition talks in the regions. On June 5, 2014, the PS announced that it would govern Wallonia and the French Community with the cdH, while in Brussels the FDF under Olivier Maingain, now separated from MR , would be involved as a third coalition partner. Prime ministers would respectively Magnette, Demotte and Vervoort. This news triggered a chain reaction: While the coalition of N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD was announced a little later in Flanders, the MR found itself under pressure at the state level if it did not want to be pushed into the opposition across Belgium. After the cdH rejected a center-right government, the MR, as the only francophone party, decided to negotiate the formation of a federal government with the parties of the Flemish government: this project, in which a federal government will be formed for the first time in recent Belgian history whose Francophone component consists of only one party and is therefore in the minority in the French language group of the parliament, the Swedish coalition or Kamikaze coalition (since the MR is like a kamikaze in an "all or nothing") Position): The Federal Government Michel I under Prime Minister Charles Michel (MR) was formed and the PS was pushed back into the opposition for the first time since 1988 in the Chamber of Deputies. The outgoing Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo took over the party chairmanship again and announced an extremely tough opposition course.

present

Federal government

Since October 11, 2014, the PS has been in opposition at the federal level and is therefore no longer represented in the federal government.

Community and Regional Governments

The incumbent Prime Minister with PS membership
Rudy Demotte Rudy Demotte in office
since 2008 		Walloon regionWalloon region French community
No photo available Rudi Vervoort in office
since 2013 		Brussels Capital RegionBrussels Capital Region Brussels Capital Region

Officials and personalities

Party leader

The incumbent president of the PS
Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo in office
since 2014 		Member of the Federal Chamber of Deputies
Mayor of Mons
Prime Minister a. D.
Minister of State

The following people have presided over the Parti Socialiste in the past:

Presidents of Parliament

The incumbent parliamentary presidents with PS membership
Philippe Courard Philippe Courard in office
since 2014 		Walloon regionWalloon region French community
Charles Picqué Charles Picqué in office
since 2014 		Brussels Capital RegionBrussels Capital Region Brussels Capital Region
Karl-Heinz Lambertz Karl-Heinz Lambertz in office
2014–2016,
since 2019 		Flag of the German Community in Belgium.svg German speaking community

The following people were members of the Parti Socialiste and president of a parliamentary assembly in the past: *

* WR: Wallonia Region, RB: Brussels Capital Region, FG: French Community, DG: German-speaking Community

Prime Ministers and Ministers

The following people are or were in the past members of the Parti Socialiste and Prime Minister of a community or region: *

* WR: Wallonia Region, RB: Brussels Capital Region, FG: French Community, DG: German-speaking Community

In addition, the following persons were represented as ministers or state secretaries in a federal, community or regional government or executive:

Other PS members

Election results

European elections

year percent be right Seats
1979 12.84% 698.889 3
1984 13.32% 762.293 5
1989 14.48% 854.207 5
1994 11.48% 684.962 3
1999 9.59% 596,567 3
2004 13.54% 878,577 4th
2009 10.88% 714.947 3
2014 10.68% 714,645 3

Only the results of the French electoral college are shown, excluding the results of the PS-SP in the German-speaking electoral college.

National or federal elections

Chamber of Deputies
year percent be right Seats
1978 13.01% 719.926 32
1981 12.70% 765.055 35
1985 13.76% 834,488 35
1987 15.66% 961.361 40
1991 13.49% 831.199 35
1995 11.87% 720.819 21st
1999 10.26% 631,653 19th
2003 13.02% 855.992 25th
2007 10.86% 724.787 20th
2010 13.70% 894.543 26th
2014 11.67% 787.058 23

Regional elections

Walloon region
year percent be right Seats
1995 35.22% 665.986 30th
1999 29.44% 560,867 25th
2004 36.91% 727.781 34
2009 32.77% 657.803 29
2014 30.90% 632.653 30th
Brussels Capital Region
year Percent * be right Seats
1989 21.95% 96.189 18th
1995 21.40% 88,370 17th
1999 16.01% 68,307 13
2004 28.75% 130,462 26th
2009 26.24% 107,303 21st
2014 26.59% 108,755 21st

* Only the proportion of votes within the French language group was counted.

literature

  • Pascal Delwit, Jean-Benoit-Pilet, Emilie van Haute: Les partis politiques en Belgique. Université de Bruxelles, Brussels 2011, ISBN 978-2-8004-1514-7 .
  • Xavier Mabille: Le Parti socialiste: évolution 1978-2005. Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP No. 1867-1868, 2005.

Web links

Commons : Parti Socialiste  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ As of 2002: 95,765 members; Partis francophones - Nombre de membres en recul partout. In: Lalibre.be. September 26, 2002, accessed May 19, 2012 (French).
  2. ↑ Status in 2003 (estimated); Jeunes et politique, amour et répulsion. In: Lalibre.be. May 13, 2003, accessed May 19, 2012 (French).
  3. ↑ Commune de Quaregnon: 1894: La Charte de Quaregnon. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 2, 2016 ; Retrieved on May 16, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.quaregnon.be
  4. ^ Parti Socialiste: PS - Valeurs. Retrieved May 16, 2012 (French).
  5. ^ Parti Socialiste: PS - Les Statuts. Retrieved May 16, 2012 (French).
  6. ↑ March 20 and 21, 1937 in Antwerp , April 7 and 8, 1951 in Mechelen, and October 14 and 15, 1967 in Klemskerke
  7. ↑ June 8 and 9, 1938 in Charleroi , July 1 to 3, 1939 in Liège , July 5 and 6, 1947 in Mons , June 6 and 7, 1959 in Namur, March 31 and April 1, 1962 in Charleroi, March 11 and 12, 1967 in Tournai and November 25 and 26, 1967 in Verviers
  8. ^ It was not until the congress of March 8th and 9th, 1980 that it was decided to use the name “Socialist Partij” and the abbreviation SP.
  9. ↑ Richard Taxquet, former driver and secretary to PS Minister Alain Van der Biest , Pino di Mauro, Cosimo Solazzo and Domenico Castellino received a 20-year prison sentence from a jury in 2004 for their involvement in this murder, but in particular Van der's suicide Beasts in 2002 made sure that the exact background could not be found.
  10. ↑ Lalibre.be: Van Cauwenberghe démissionne. September 30, 2005, accessed May 19, 2012 (French).
  11. ↑ Actu24.be: Didier Donfut, sa consultance facturée 143,000 euros. May 12, 2009, accessed May 19, 2012 (French).
  12. ↑ Lalibre.be: Présidence PS: Thierry Giet nommé à l'unanimité. December 6, 2011, accessed May 19, 2012 (French).
  13. ↑ Lesoir.be: Paul Magnette est officiellement le nouveau président du PS. January 17, 2013, accessed January 17, 2013 (French).
  14. ↑ Brussels: Picqué is leaving, Vervoort is coming ( Memento of May 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ RTBF.be: PS et cdH veulent gouverner à deux en Wallonie et avec le FDF à Bruxelles. June 5, 2014, accessed October 12, 2014 (French).
  16. ↑ Lavenir.net: Le PS annonce une opposition dure contre un gouvernement "d'ultra-droite". October 5, 2014, accessed October 12, 2014 (French).