The Liberal Reformist Party (french: Parti Réformateur Libéral, PRL) was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

active in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The PRL grew out of the

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

part of the unitary liberal

Party for Freedom and Progress The Party for Freedom and Progress ( nl, Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang; french: Parti de la Liberté et du Progrès; german: Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt, PVV-PLP) was a liberal political party in Belgium which existed from 1961 unti ...

(PVV-PLP) in 1971 and merged into the

Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (french: Mouvement Réformateur, MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium. MR is traditionally a conservative-liberal party, but it also contains social-liberal factions. The party is in coalition as ...

(RM) in 2002.

History

In 1971, the

(PVV-PLP), inheritor to the historical

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

of Belgium, split into a Flemish and a Francophone party, anticipating the political devolution bill of 1980. Initially keeping the French version of the old party name (''Parti de la liberté et du progrès''), the party relaunched as the ''Party of Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia'' (Parti des réformes et de la liberté de Wallonie, PRLW) after taking over the

Walloon Rally The Walloon Rally (french: Rassemblement wallon; RW) is a regionalist political party in Belgium, active in Wallonia since 1968. The party favoured federalism and since 1985 independence. Founded on 7 March 1968, the party contested the Belgi ...

. In Brussels, the French-speaking Liberals co-operated intensively with the Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF). In 1979, the Francophone liberals of the capital merged into the PRLW, which took the new name of Liberal Reformist Party (PRL). The Walloon liberals participated in the federal government from 1973 to 1977 ( Leburton governments I-II, Tindemans governments I-III), in 1980 (

Martens A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

government III), from 1981 to 1988 (Martens governments V-VII), and from 1999 to 2003 (

Verhofstadt I Government The Verhofstadt I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 1999 to 12 July 2003. It was the first government headed by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD). It consisted of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), the Fre ...

). In 1993, the PRL formed an alliance with the Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF), a party standing up for the rights of French-speakers in and around Brussels. In 1998, the

Citizens' Movement for Change Citizens' Movement for Change (french: Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement, MCC) is a Christian-democratic political party in the French Community of Belgium founded by Gérard Deprez in 1998. Deprez was the leader of the Francophone Christ ...

, a split-off from the Christian Social Party, joined the alliance, making it the PRL-FDF-MCC Federation. On a congress in 2002, the German-speaking liberals of the

also joined and the alliance took the name of

(MR). After this congress, the PRL completely merged in the MR.

Presidents

* 1972–1973:

Milou Jeunehomme Emile-Edgar (Milou) Jeunehomme (1924–2001) was a Belgian liberal politician. On 15 January 1958 he became a member of parliament for the district Liège. He played for a long time an important role in the liberal party under Omer Vanaudenh ...

* 1973–1979: André Damseaux * 1979–1982:

Jean Gol Jean Gol (8 February 1942 – 18 September 1995) was a Belgium, Belgian politician for the Liberalism, liberal Walloon Region, Walloon party Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL). He was a minister, on several occasions, in the Belgian government, in ...

* 1982–1990:

Louis Michel Louis Michel (born 2 September 1947) is a Belgian politician. He served in the government of Belgium as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004 and was European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid from 2004 to 2009. From 20 ...

* 1990–1992: Antoine Duquesne and

Daniel Ducarme Daniel Ducarme (8 March 1954, Liège – 28 August 2010) was a Belgian politician and former Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region. Background and political affiliation Starting his political career in the Liberal Reformist Party (P ...

(co-presidency) * 1992–1995:

* 1995–1999:

* 1999–2003:

Notable members

* André Damseaux, party chairman 1973-1974, MEP, Prime Minister of the Walloon Region, 1982 *

Jean Defraigne Jean Pierre Marie Olivier Germain Defraigne (; 19 April 1929 – 15 March 2016) was a Belgian liberal politician and minister for the Liberal Reformist Party (PRL). Career Defraigne graduated as a doctor in law at the Université de Liège a ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered ...

1980, 1981-1988 *

François-Xavier de Donnea François Xavier Gustave Marie Joseph Corneille Hubert, Knight de Donnea de Hamoir (born 29 April 1941 in Edegem, Antwerp) is a Belgian politician and a former mayor of the City of Brussels and Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Regio ...

, Defence Minister and Minister for the Brussels Region 1984-1988, Mayor of Brussels 1995-2000, Prime Minister of the Brussels Region 2000-2003 * Antoine Duquesne, party chairman 1990-1992, Education Minister 1987-1988, Interior Minister of Belgium 1999-2003, MEP 2004-2009 *

, party chairman 1979-1981, Vice-Premier and Justice Minister of Belgium 1981-1988 *

, party chairman 1982-1990, 1995-1999, Foreign Minister 1999-2004, European Commissioner 2004-2009 *

Charles Poswick Charles Marie Jean Joseph Elvire Ghislain baron Poswick (6 October 1924 – 28 July 1994) was a Belgian politician for the PLP. Poswick was doctor in Law and licentiate in commercial and financial sciences. He became para-commando and broker. ...

, Defence Minister 1966-1968, 1980,

of the

Parliament of the French Community The Parliament of the French Community (french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament exce ...

1984-1985 *

Didier Reynders Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) serving as European Commissioner for Justice since 2019. He held various positions in public institutions before becoming a member of ...

, chairman of the National Railway Company of Belgium 1986-1991, Finance Minister of Belgium 1999-2004 *

Jacques Simonet Jacques Simonet (21 December 1963 – 14 June 2007) was a Belgian politician and a former Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region. Life He is the son of Henri Simonet, former Socialist Party minister and for many years mayor of Anderl ...

, Prime Minister of the Brussels Region 1999-2000, 2004 *

Pierre Van Halteren Pierre Van Halteren (24 February 1911 – 23 September 2009) was a Belgian liberal politician and burgomaster from Brussels (1975–1982). In 1979, he was the president of the Brussels francophone liberal party, the ''Parti Liberal'' until ...

, Mayor of Brussels 1975-1982

References

{{Belgian political parties Defunct political parties in Belgium Conservative liberal parties Classical liberal parties Francophone political parties in Belgium Liberal parties in Belgium Defunct liberal political parties 1971 establishments in Belgium 2002 disestablishments in Belgium

History

Presidents

Notable members

See also

References