Parti Social Chrétien
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Humanist Democratic Centre (french: Centre Démocrate Humaniste, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist
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. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) which had been the country's governing party for much of the post-war period. It continued to be called the Christian Social Party (french: Parti Social Chrétien, PSC) until 2002 when it was renamed the Humanist Democratic Centre. It was refounded as Les Engagés in 2022.


History

The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) into the Dutch-speaking Christian People's Party (CVP) and the French-speaking Christian Social Party (PSC), following the increased linguistic tensions after the crisis at the
Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...
in 1968. A similar split already happened in 1936 when the Catholic Bloc split into the dutchophone
Catholic Flemish People's Party The Catholic Flemish People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Vlaamse Volkspartij, KVV) was a political party within the Catholic Block in Belgium from 1936 until 1945. History The party was formed in 1936 following the defeat of the Catholic Party at t ...
and francophone
Catholic Social Party The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. The PSC performed particularly badly in the 1999 general election. This was linked to several scandals, such as the escape of
Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thr ...
and the discovery of
dioxine Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of long-lived polyhalogenated organic compounds that are primarily anthropogenic, and contribute toxic, persistent organic pollution in the environment. They are commonly ...
in chickens (the PSC was a coalition partner in the Dehaene government). The decline in votes was also explained by declining adherence to Catholicism. The party was confined to opposition on all levels of government. The party started a process of internal reform. In 2001 a new charter of principles, the "Charter of Democratic Humanism," was adopted and in 2002 the party adopted a new constitution and a new name, Humanist Democratic Centre. In the 2003 general election the party did not perform much better and was still confined to opposition. After the 2004 regional elections the party returned to power in Brussels, in Walloon Region and the French Community together with the Socialist Party and Ecolo in Brussels, and with the Socialist Party in Walloon Region and the French Community. In the 2007 general elections, the party won 10 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and two out of 40 seats in the
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 ...
. In the 2010 general elections, the party lost one seat in the Chamber and kept its two seats in the Senate, a result which was repeated in the 2014 general elections. In the 2019 general elections the party registered its worst ever performance, winning only 5 seats and 3.7% of the vote, as well as its worst performance in the Walloon and Brussels parliaments as part of the general trend of Belgians turning away from the traditional political parties.


Ideology

Its ideology was "democratic humanism, inspired by
personalism Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...
inherited notably from Christian humanism" which includes a centre-left policy towards the economy, supporting state interventionism and calling for the unity of Belgium, while also containing a centre-right faction on social issues and supporting tougher measures on crime. Presently, the party considers itself to be a movement rather than a party, and calls for citizen-led initiatives and more engagement between the public and politicians.


Presidents

CVP/PSC *1945–1947 August De Schryver *1949–1950
François-Xavier van der Straten-Waillet François-Xavier Georges Joseph Marie Ghislain baron van der Straten-Waillet (22 January 1910 - 15 February 1998) was a Belgian politician for the Christian Social Party (Belgium, 1945), Christian Social Party. Biography was a son of baron A ...
*1950–1961
Théo Lefèvre Théodore Joseph Albéric Marie "Théo" Lefèvre (17 January 1914 – 18 September 1973) was a lawyer at the Ghent court of justice. In 1946 he became deputy of the Belgian parliament for the PSC-CVP. Between 25 April 1961 and 28 July 1965 he wa ...
*1961–1966 Paul Vanden Boeynants *1966–1972
Robert J. Houben Robert J. Houben (5 May 1905 – 11 April 1992) was a Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, F ...
PSC *1972–1976
Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb Baron Charles-Ferdinand N. M. P. Nothomb (born 3 May 1936) is a French-speaking Belgian politician. He is a member of the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH). He served as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1980 until 1981, and as Minister ...
*1976–1977
Georges Gramme Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...
*1977–1979
Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb Baron Charles-Ferdinand N. M. P. Nothomb (born 3 May 1936) is a French-speaking Belgian politician. He is a member of the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH). He served as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1980 until 1981, and as Minister ...
*1979–1981 Paul Vanden Boeynants *1981–1996
Gérard Deprez Gérard M.J. Deprez (born 13 August 1943 in Noville, Bastogne) is a Belgian politician. He was the president of the Walloon Christian Social Party (PSC) from 1981 to 1996. In 1998 he left the PSC and founded the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC ...
*1996–1998
Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb Baron Charles-Ferdinand N. M. P. Nothomb (born 3 May 1936) is a French-speaking Belgian politician. He is a member of the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH). He served as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1980 until 1981, and as Minister ...
*1998–1999
Philippe Maystadt Philippe M.P.J. Maystadt (14 March 1948 – 7 December 2017) was a Belgian politician who served as Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Prime Minister. He was President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) from 2000 to ...
*1999–2002
Joëlle Milquet Joëlle F.G.M. Milquet ( ; born 17 February 1961) is a Belgian politician from the Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). Education She studied classics at the in Charleroi, before going on to graduate in law from the Université Catholique de Louva ...
cdH *2002–2011
Joëlle Milquet Joëlle F.G.M. Milquet ( ; born 17 February 1961) is a Belgian politician from the Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). Education She studied classics at the in Charleroi, before going on to graduate in law from the Université Catholique de Louva ...
*2011–2019
Benoît Lutgen Benoît Lutgen (born 10 March 1970) is a Belgian politician who served as head of the Centre démocrate humaniste (Humanist Democrat Centre) political party in Belgium from 2011 to 2019. Early life Benoît Lutgen was born on 10 March 1970 in Bast ...
*2019–2022
Maxime Prévot Maxime Prévot (; born April 9, 1978) is a Belgian politician who is currently the president of the Les Engagés (political party), Les Engagés party and has served as the Mayor of Namur since 2012. Biography Prévot was born in Mons in 1978 to ...
Until 1968 this lists gives the president of the Walloon part of the unitary CVP/PSC. The party changed its name from PSC to cdH on 18 May 2002.


Electoral results


Chamber of Representatives

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:12 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:0 PlotData= bar:% color:orange width:22 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1971 from:start till:10.4 text:" 10.4" bar:1974 from:start till:9.1 text:" 9.1" bar:1977 from:start till:7.3 text:" 7.3" bar:1978 from:start till:10.1 text:" 10.1" bar:1981 from:start till:7.2 text:" 7.2" bar:1985 from:start till:8.0 text:"
8.0 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
" bar:1987 from:start till:8.0 text:"
8.0 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
" bar:1991 from:start till:7.7 text:"
7.7 The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mor ...
" bar:1995 from:start till:7.7 text:"
7.7 The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mor ...
" bar:1999 from:start till:5.9 text:" 5.9" bar:2003 from:start till:5.5 text:"
5.5 ''Twilight of the Innocents'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band Ash. It was released on 29 June 2007, through Infectious Records. Following the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley in early 2006, the band began recording their ...
" bar:2007 from:start till:6.06 text:" 6.06" bar:2010 from:start till:5.52 text:" 5.52" bar:2014 from:start till:5.0 text:" 5.00" bar:2019 from:start till:3.7 text:" 3.70"


Senate


Regional


Brussels Parliament


Walloon Parliament


European Parliament


Further reading

* *


References


External links

*
Official Website

cdH students

cdH page on the website of the European People's Party
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centre Democrate Humaniste Francophone political parties in Belgium Christian democratic parties in Belgium Political parties established in 1968 Political parties established in 1972 Political parties established in 2002 Political parties disestablished in 2022 1968 establishments in Belgium 1972 establishments in Belgium 2002 establishments in Belgium 2022 disestablishments in Belgium Member parties of the European People's Party