Socialist Party (Belgium)

Socialist Party
French: Parti socialiste
Dutch: Socialistische Partij
German: Sozialistische Partei
AbbreviationPS
PresidentPaul Magnette
Founded1978 (1978)
Preceded byBelgian Socialist Party
HeadquartersNational Secretariat
Bd de l'Empereur/Keizerslaan 13, Brussels
Think tankInstitut Emile Vandervelde[1]
Youth wingMovement of Young Socialists
Membership (2021)32,000[2]
IdeologySocial democracy[3][4][5][6][7]
Political positionCentre-left[8] to left-wing[9][10]
Regional affiliationSocialists, Greens and Democrats[11]
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Socialist International
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Flemish counterpartVooruit
Colours  Red
Chamber of Representatives
(French-speaking seats)
20 / 61
Senate
(French-speaking seats)
7 / 24
Walloon Parliament
23 / 75
Parliament of the French Community
28 / 94
Brussels Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
17 / 72
European Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
2 / 8
Benelux Parliament
3 / 21
Website
www.ps.be

The Socialist Party[12][13][14] (French: Parti socialiste, PS) is a social democratic[3][4][5][6][7] French-speaking political party in Belgium. As of the 2019 elections, it is the third largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party. The party is led by Paul Magnette. The party supplies the Minister-president of the French Community (Rudy Demotte), and the Brussels-Capital Region (Rudi Vervoort). In the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei (SP).

The PS is very commonly part of governing coalitions, and dominates most local authorities because of the extremely fragmented nature of Belgian political institutions, particularly in Francophone areas. In the years since 1999, the PS has simultaneously controlled five regional executive bodies: the Government of the French Community, the Walloon Government, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the COCOF, a local subsidiary in Brussels of the French Community Government, and the Government of the German-speaking Community.

The party, or its members, have from time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery and financial fraud (Cools assassination, Agusta scandal, Dassault Affair, Carolorégienne affair, ICDI affair). The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region.

  1. ^ "L'IEV - PS - Parti Socialiste". PS.be. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  2. ^ "À moins d'un an des élections, comment les partis politiques recrutent-ils leurs membres ? Et combien sont-ils ?". 20 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Wallonia/Belgium". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  4. ^ a b Slomp, Hans (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b Richard Collin; Pamela L. Martin (2012). An Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-1-4422-1803-1. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  7. ^ a b Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko; Matti Mälkiä (2007). Encyclopedia of Digital Government. Idea Group Inc (IGI). pp. 397–. ISBN 978-1-59140-790-4. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  8. ^ Josep M. Colomer (24 July 2008). Comparative European Politics. Taylor & Francis. pp. 220–. ISBN 9780203946091. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Le PS: se réinventer à gauche tout en forgeant des compromis". Le Soir (in French). 9 August 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Laurette Onkelinx (PS) : "Le PTB ne représente pas la classe ouvrière"". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Politieke fracties". Benelux Parliament (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  12. ^ Chee, Foo Yun (23 September 2020). "Belgian king names two to form government - 16 months after election". Reuters. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. ^ Anderson, Emma (20 July 2020). "Belgian Socialist leader warns of new election if coalition not formed in 50 days". Politico. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  14. ^ Walsh, David (2 October 2020). "Belgium: New seven-party coalition government officially sworn in". Euronews. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

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