Agir (''Act'') was a Belgian

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

political party active in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. The party existed from 1989 to 1997 and elected representatives at a provincial and municipal level. The initial base of Agir was the

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

branch of the '' Parti des forces nouvelles'' (PFN). The PFN had endured poor electoral results as well as adverse publicity following a brawl with police at the Brussels International Book Festival, resulting in the Liège going their own way in 1989.Piero Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2006,p. 128 The three founding leaders of Agir were Willy Freson, a one-tine leading activist in the '' Front de la Jeunesse'', Robert Destordeur, a member of the PFN secretariat and Robert Steuckers, the main ideologue of the ''

Nouvelle droite The ''Nouvelle Droite'' (, ), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right politics, far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The ''Nouvelle Droite'' is the origin of the wider European New Right ( ...

'' tendency in Belgium. The party belonged to an authoritarian and xenophobic ideology of the

, eschewing the

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

that was growing in importance at the time. The party however rejected the

biological racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called " races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discrimi ...

of its PFN predecessor, preferring instead to emphasise cultural nationalism and identity politics. It strongly supported the

repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

of immigrants. They described themselves as an "opposition popular party" and rejected the label of extreme right. Agir were ideologically close to the ''

Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne ("Research and Study Group for European Civilization"), better known as GRECE, is a French Ethnic nationalism, ethnonationalist think-tank, think tank founded in 1968 to p ...

'' (GRECE) and members of the party took place in a number of GRECE conferences.Institute of Jewish Affairs, ''Antisemitism World Report 1994'', Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1994, p. 14 Although of a firmly Walloon identity Agir also sought good relations with the

Vlaams Blok Vlaams Blok (, VB; ) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.Erk, 2005, pp. 493-502. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. The part ...

. Externally, the party established connections with the

German League for People and Homeland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and the French National Front as well as individual activists within the

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

subculture. The party held seats in the

Provincial Council as well as the Municipal Councils within the region. The 4.7% of the vote they captured in the 1991 Provincial election was enough to ensure that Freson captured a seat. However, never operating outside its Liège stronghold, in 1997 the group merged with the Front National (FN). With the FN in disarray at the time, the arrival of the Agir activists led to something of a revival in that party's fortunes.Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties'', p. 131

References

{{Reflist Defunct political parties in Belgium Far-right political parties in Belgium Francophone political parties in Belgium Political parties established in 1989 Political parties disestablished in 1997 1989 establishments in Belgium 1997 disestablishments in Belgium