Centre démocrate humaniste

Not to be confused with the Christian Social Party (1945–1968).
Humanist Democratic Centre
Centre démocrate humaniste
President Benoît Lutgen
Founded 1968
Preceded by Christian Social Party
Headquarters National secretariat
Rue des Deux Églises, Brussels
Ideology Christian democracy[1]
Christian humanism[2]
Centrism[3]
Political position Centre[4][5][6] to Centre-left[2]
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation None
European Parliament group European People's Party
Flemish counterpart Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)
Colours          Brown, Orange
Chamber of Representatives
(French-speaking seats)
9 / 63
Senate
(French-speaking seats)
4 / 24
Walloon Parliament
13 / 75
Parliament of the French Community
16 / 94
Brussels Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
8 / 72
European Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
1 / 8
Website
www.lecdh.be

The Humanist Democratic Centre (French: Centre démocrate humaniste, cdH) is a Christian democratic[7][8][9] French-speaking political party in Belgium.[10][11] Until 2002, the party was known as the Christian Social Party (French: Parti Social Chrétien, PSC). The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community the Walloon Government, but no longer, following the May 2014 national elections, the Belgian federal government.

History

The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social Party–Christian People's Party (PSC-CVP) into the Dutch-speaking Christian People's Party (CVP) and the French-speaking Christian Social Party (PSC), following the increased linguistic tensions after the crisis at the University of Leuven in 1968. The PSC performed particularly badly in the 1999 general election. This was linked to several scandals, such as the escape of Marc Dutroux and the discovery of dioxine in chickens (the PSC was a coalition partner in the Dehaene government). The decline in votes was also explained by declining adherence to Catholicism. The party was confined to opposition on all levels of government.

The party started a process of internal reform. In 2001 a new charter of principles the "Charter of Democratic Humanism" was adopted and 2002 the party adopted a new constitution and a new name, Humanist Democratic Centre.

In the 2003 general election the party did not perform much better and was still confined to opposition. After the 2004 regional elections the party returned to power in Brussels, in Walloon Region and the French Community together with the Socialist Party and Ecolo in Brussels, and with the Socialist Party in Walloon Region and the French Community. The current president of the party is Joëlle Milquet.

In the 2007 general elections, the party won 10 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 2 out of 40 seats in the Senate.

In the 2010 general elections, the party lost one seat in the Chamber and kept its two seats in the Senate.

Ideology

Its ideology is the "democratic humanism, inspired by personalism inherited notably from christian humanism", which includes a centre-left policy towards the economy, supporting state interventionism and calling for the unity of Belgium.

Electoral results

Federal Parliament

Results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium.

Chamber of Representatives (Chambre des Représentants)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/– Government
1995 469,101 7.7 (#3)
12 / 150
12 / 59
 in coalition
1999 365,318 5.9 (#4)
10 / 150
10 / 59
 Decrease 2 in opposition
2003 359,660 5.5 (#3)
8 / 150
8 / 62
 Decrease 2 in opposition
2007 404,077 6.0 (#3)
10 / 150
10 / 62
 Increase 2 in coalition
2010 360,441 5.5 (#3)
9 / 150
9 / 62
 Decrease 1 in coalition
2014 336,281 5.0 (#3)
9 / 150
9 / 63
 Steady in opposition
Senate (Sénat)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/–
1995 434,492 7.3 (#3)
3 / 40
3 / 15
1999 374,002 6.0 (#4)
3 / 40
3 / 15
 Steady 0
2003 362,705 5.5 (#3)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 Decrease 1
2007 390,852 5.9 (#3)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 Steady 0
2010 331,870 5.1 (#4)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 Steady 0

Regional parliaments

Brussels Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/– Government
1989 51,904 11.9 (#4)
9 / 75
 in coalition
1995 38,244 9.3 (#3)
7 / 75
 Decrease 2 in opposition
1999 33,815 7.9 (#4)
6 / 75
 Decrease 1 in opposition
2004 55,078 14.1 (#3)
10 / 89
10 / 72
 Increase 4 in coalition
2009 60,527 14.8 (#4)
11 / 89
11 / 72
 Increase 1 in coalition

Walloon Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Government
1995 407,741 21.6 (#3)
16 / 75
 in coalition
1999 325,229 17.1 (#4)
14 / 75
 Decrease 2 in opposition
2004 347,348 17.6 (#3)
14 / 75
 Steady 0 in coalition
2009 323,952 16.1 (#4)
13 / 75
 Decrease 1 in coalition

European Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of electoral
college vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of electoral
college seats won		 +/–
1979 445,912 21.2 (#2)
3 / 24
3 / 11
1984 436,108 19.5 (#3)
2 / 24
2 / 11
 Decrease 1
1989 476,795 21.3 (#2)
2 / 24
2 / 11
 Steady 0
1994 420,198 18.8 (#3)
2 / 25
2 / 10
 Steady 0
1999 307,912 13.3 (#4)
1 / 25
1 / 10
 Decrease 1
2004 368,753 15.2 (#3)
1 / 24
1 / 9
 Steady 0
2009 327,824 13.3 (#4)
1 / 22
1 / 8
 Steady 0

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
  2. 1 2 "European Social Survey 2012 - Appendix 3 (in English)" (PDF). European Science Foundation. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Hloušek, Vít; Kopeček, Lubomír (2010), Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared, Ashgate, p. 136
  4. ↑ Keman, Hans (2008), "The Low Countries: Confrontation and Coalition in Segmented Societies", Comparative European Politics (Third ed.), Routledge, p. 220
  5. ↑ Annesley, Claire (2005), Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, Routledge, p. 179
  6. ↑ Josep M. Colomer (24 July 2008). Comparative European Politics. Taylor & Francis. pp. 220–. ISBN 978-0-203-94609-1. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  7. ↑ Hans Slomp (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  8. ↑ Thomas Poguntke; Paul Webb (21 June 2007). The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies. Oxford University Press. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-0-19-921849-3. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Colin Hay; Anand Menon (18 January 2007). European Politics. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-0-19-928428-3.
  10. ↑ Billiet, Jaak; Maddens, Bart; Frognier, André-Paul (2006). "Does Belgium (still) exist? Differences in political culture between Flemings and Walloons". West European Politics. 29 (5): 912–932. doi:10.1080/01402380600968802.
  11. ↑ Lees-Marshment, Jennifer (2009). Political Marketing: Principles and Applications. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-415-43129-3.
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