nl, Socialistische Partij
german: Sozialistische Partei , abbreviation = PS , logo = Socialist Party (Belgium) logo.svg , leader1_title = President , leader1_name =

Paul Magnette Paul Magnette (born 28 June 1971) is a Belgian politician for the Socialist Party, the current mayor of Charleroi and former political science professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He was the 13th Minister-President of Wallonia ...

, foundation = 1978 , predecessor =

Belgian Socialist Party nl, Belgische Socialistische Partij , logo = Logo of the Belgian Socialist Party.png , caption = The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973. , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Achille Van Acker (first)André Cools (last) ...

, headquarters = National Secretariat
Bd de l'Empereur/Keizerslaan 13, Brussels , youth_wing =

Movement of Young Socialists The Movement of Young Socialists (french: Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes, MJS) or simply ''Jeunes Socialistes'' is the youth organisation of the Socialist Party of Belgium. The MJS is member of the Young European Socialists Young European S ...

, think_tank = Institut Emile Vandervelde , ideology =

Progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

https://www.ps.be/Content/Uploads/PSOfficiel/PDFs/170%20engagements%20A5-3.pdf

Eco-socialism Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...

https://www.ps.be/Content/Uploads/PSOfficiel/PDFs/170%20engagements%20A5-3.pdf

Pro-Europeanism Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...

, position = , international =

Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of social democratic and progressive political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Social ...

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...

, european =

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

, europarl =

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

, affiliation1_title = Flemish counterpart , affiliation1 =

Vooruit Vooruit ( nl, Kunstencentrum Vooruit, ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art center of the Ghent-based labor movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theater, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts a ...

, seats1_title = Chamber of Representatives
(French-speaking seats) , seats1 = , seats2_title =

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(French-speaking seats) , seats2 = , seats3_title =

Walloon Parliament The Parliament of Wallonia (french: Parlement de Wallonie) (Walloon Parliament (french: Parlement wallon) in the decrees) is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium (the other two being Flanders and t ...

, seats3 = , seats4_title =

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 ...

, seats4 = , seats5_title =

Brussels Parliament The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) ( French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gew ...

(French-speaking seats) , seats5 = , seats6_title =

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

( French-speaking seats) , seats6 = , colours =

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, website = , country = Belgium The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste, PS) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

French-speaking French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

political party in Belgium. As of the 2019 elections, it is the third largest party in 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 ...

and the largest Francophone party. The party is led by

. The party supplies the

Minister-president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

of the

French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

(

Rudy Demotte Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch polit ...

), and the

Brussels-Capital Region 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 ...

(

Rudi Vervoort Rudi Vervoort (born 20 November 1958) is a Brussels politician. He is the mayor of Evere since 1998 and member of the Brussels Parliament. He became the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region on 7 May 2013 and is responsible for Local ...

). 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 Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium (french: Gouvernement de la Communauté française ) is the executive branch of the French Community of Belgium, and it sits in Brussels. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the Parliamen ...

, the

Walloon Government The Walloon Government (french: Gouvernement wallon) or Government of Wallonia (french: Gouvernement de Wallonie) is the executive branch of Wallonia, and it is part of one of the six main governments of Belgium. It sits in Namur, where the Parli ...

, the

Government of the Brussels-Capital Region The government of the Brussels-Capital Region was the political administration of the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) An election is held every five years. Th ...

, as well as the COCOF, a local subsidiary in Brussels of the French Community Government, and the

Government of the German-speaking Community The government of the German-speaking Community (german: Regierung der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft; DG-Regierung) is the executive body of the German-speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsp ...

. The party, or its members, have from time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and financial fraud ( Cools assassination,

Agusta scandal The Agusta scandal (french: Affaire Agusta, nl, Agustaschandaal), alternatively known as the Agusta–Dassault Case, was a major political scandal which occurred in Belgium during the 1990s, based on allegations that two multinational companies ...

, Dassault Affair,

Carolorégienne affair Between 2005 and 2007, many court cases implicated personalities of the municipal government in the city of Charleroi in Belgium. In October 2006, mayor Jacques Van Gompel of the PS was jailed on fraud and forgery charges. 3Léon Casaert, also of ...

ICDI affair This is a list of political scandals in Belgium from 1830 to present.Lieven De Winter, "Political corruption in Belgium." in ''Corruption in Contemporary Politics'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2003). 93-105. List of scandals * Victor Jacobs af ...

). The Carolorégienne affair caused

Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe (born 28 April 1944 in Charleroi), nicknamed "Van Cau", is a Belgian politician. He is member of the Socialist Party (francophone Belgium), Parti Socialiste (''Socialist Party''; PS). He was the tenth Minister-Preside ...

to step down as

Minister-President of the Walloon region The minister-president of Wallonia () is the head of the Government of Wallonia, the executive power of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. The official residence, known as the Élysette, is in Namur, along the Meuse River. The ministe ...

Electoral results

The PS performed well in the 2003 general election, but were overtaken as the largest Francophone party by 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 pa ...

in the 2007 general election In the 10 June 2007

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, the party won 20 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 4 out of 40 seats in the

. The PS was a member of the

Leterme I Government The Leterme I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 20 March 2008 to 22 December 2008. It took office when the Flemish Christian democrat Yves Leterme ( CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Belgian general el ...

Van Rompuy I Government The Van Rompuy Government was the federal government of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when ...

Leterme II Government The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Pr ...

and currently the

Di Rupo I Government The Di Rupo Government was the federal cabinet of Belgium sworn in on 6 December 2011, after a record-breaking 541 days of negotiations following the June 2010 elections. The government included social democrats ( sp.a/ PS), Christian democrats ...

of 6 December 2011, with former PS leader Elio Di Rupo serving as

Prime Minister of Belgium german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...

Timeline

Results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium. ImageSize = width:650 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:16 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:0 PlotData= bar:% color:red width:22 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1978 from:start till:13.1 text:" 13.1" bar:1981 from:start till:12.7 text:" 12.7" bar:1985 from:start till:13.8 text:" 13.8" bar:1987 from:start till:15.6 text:" 15.6" bar:1991 from:start till:13.5 text:" 13.5" bar:1995 from:start till:11.9 text:" 11.9" bar:1999 from:start till:10.2 text:" 10.2" bar:2003 from:start till:13.0 text:" 13.0" bar:2007 from:start till:10.86 text:" 10.86" bar:2010 from:start till:13.70 text:" 13.70" bar:2014 from:start till:11.67 text:" 11.67" bar:2019 from:start till:9.46 text:" 9.46"

Ideology

The ideology and image of the PS is a mix of

social-democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

, combined with a modern electoral marketing. In its political program, the party claims to be progressive and ecosocialist.https://www.ps.be/Content/Uploads/PSOfficiel/PDFs/170%20engagements%20A5-3.pdf

Notable figures

Chairmen

André Cools André H.P. Cools (1 August 1927 – 18 July 1991) was a Belgian politician and a senior figure within the Walloon Socialist Party (PS) in the Liège region. He was assassinated in 1991 and the subsequent investigation uncovered widespread graft ...

, 1978–1981 (previously leader of the Walloon branch of the BSP/PSB) *

Guy Spitaels Guy Gustave Arthur Ghislain Spitaels (3 September 1931 – 21 August 2012) was a Belgian politician of the Socialist Party. He was the 7th Minister-President of Wallonia from 1992 to 1994 and president of his party for thirteen years, until he w ...

, 1981–1992 *

Philippe Busquin Philippe Busquin (born 6 January 1941) is a Belgian politician. Busquin was born in Feluy. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 for the French Community of Belgium with the Parti Socialiste, part of the Socialist Gro ...

, 1992–1999 *

Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo (; born 18 July 1951) is a Belgian politician who has served as the minister-president of Wallonia since 2019. He is affiliated with the Socialist Party (Belgium), Socialist Party. Di Rupo previously served as the prime minister of ...

, 1999–2011 * Thierry Giet, 2011–2013 (ad interim) *

, 2013–2014 (ad interim) *

, 2014–2019 *

, 2019–

Other

André Flahaut André M. J. Gh. Flahaut (born 18 August 1955) is a Belgian politician, then in the province of Brabant and now in the Provinces of regions in Belgium, province of Walloon Brabant. Flahaut studied political sciences and public administration at ...

Jean-Claude Marcourt Jean-Claude Marcourt (16 October 1956) has been, since 2019, the President of the Parliament of Wallonia. He was the Vice-Minister-President and Minister of Economy and Foreign Affairs of the Walloon government, and Vice-Minister-President and ...

Philippe Moureaux Philippe Moureaux (12 April 1939 – 15 December 2018) was a Belgian politician, senator, mayor of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and professor of economic history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He held the honorary title of Minister of State an ...

Laurette Onkelinx Laurette A. J. Onkelinx (born 2 October 1958) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She was the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Di Rupo G ...

Electoral results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Regional

Brussels Parliament

Walloon Parliament

German-speaking Community Parliament

European Parliament

References

External links

*
Official website of German-speaking section
{{Party of European Socialists Francophone political parties in Belgium Social democratic parties Full member parties of the Socialist International Party of European Socialists member parties Regionalism (politics) Political parties established in 1978 1978 establishments in Belgium Socialist parties in Belgium Progressive Alliance Centre-left parties in Europe

Electoral results

Timeline

Ideology

Notable figures

Chairmen

Other

Electoral results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Regional

Brussels Parliament

Walloon Parliament

German-speaking Community Parliament

European Parliament

See also

References

External links