Speaker of the Flemish Parliament

Jan Peumans, speaker since 2009

The Speaker of the Flemish Parliament (Dutch: Voorzitter van het Vlaams Parlement) is the presiding member of the Flemish Parliament, which is the legislature of Flanders (Belgium). The Speaker is elected at the beginning of each parliamentary year, on the fourth Monday in September. The Speaker chairs the plenary sessions of the Flemish Parliament and acts as its official representative. He or she determines whether a certain initiative is admissible and thus can be put to parliament at all. The Flemish Ministers take the oath before the Speaker of the Flemish Parliament. Only the head of the Flemish government, the Minister-President of Flanders, takes the oath before the King. The Speaker also presides over the Bureau and the Extended Bureau of the Flemish Parliament. He or she is assisted by four Deputy Speakers.

The current Speaker of the Flemish Parliament is Jan Peumans of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA).

List of Speakers of the Flemish Parliament

No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	Robert Vandekerckhove	7 December 1971	9 May 1974	Christian People's Party
	2.	Jan Bascour	9 May 1974	14 June 1977	Party for Freedom and Progress
	3.	Maurits Coppieters	14 June 1977	24 April 1979	People's Union
	4.	Henri Boel	24 April 1979	22 December 1981	Belgian Socialist Party / Socialist Party
	5.	Jean Pede	22 December 1981	3 December 1985	Party for Freedom and Progress
	6.	Frans Grootjans	3 December 1985	13 December 1987	Party for Freedom and Progress
	7.	Jean Pede	2 February 1988	18 October 1988	Party for Freedom and Progress
	8.	Louis Vanvelthoven	18 October 1988	13 January 1994	Socialist Party
	9.	Eddy Baldewijns	13 January 1994	13 June 1995	Socialist Party
	10.	Norbert De Batselier	13 June 1995	12 July 2006	Socialist Party – Different
	11.	Marleen Vanderpoorten	13 July 2006	July 2009	Flemish Liberals and Democrats
	12.	Jan Peumans	July 2009	Incumbent	New Flemish Alliance

See also

• Flemish Parliament