Défi Vert De Québec
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DéFI (), a
backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
of Démocrate fédéraliste indépendant () is a regionalist and
social-liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited ...
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
mainly known for defending French-speakers' interests in and near the
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
region. Founded in 1964, the party is led by
Sophie Rohonyi Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...
, a former member of the Chamber of Representatives. The party's current name, ''DéFI'' or ''Défi'', was adopted in 2016 and is a
backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
of ''Démocrate, Fédéraliste, Indépendant'' () meaning "challenge" in
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
.


History

The party was founded as the Democratic Front of Francophones (''Front Démocratique des Francophones'', FDF) on 11 May 1964 as a response to the language laws of 1962. The party had instant success in Brussels: it first contested parliamentary elections
one year later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through the books published by DC Comics. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the "Infinite Crisi ...
, where it won one senator and 3 seats in the Chamber of Representatives for the constituency of Brussels. Its number of seats increased further in the subsequent parliamentary elections. The party also dominated Brussels' municipal politics until 1982. Initially the party cooperated with the
Walloon Rally The Walloon Rally (, ; 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 Belgian general election of 1968 ...
. From 1977 until 1980, the FDF participated in the federal governments led by
Leo Tindemans Leonard Clemence "Leo" Tindemans (; 16 April 1922 – 26 December 2014) was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium from 25 April 1974 until he resigned as minister on 20 October 1978. He was a member of the Christian D ...
and subsequently
Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian Democratic and Flemish, Christian People ...
. From 1992, the FDF regularly competed in electoral alliance with the larger Liberal Reformist Party (PRL). In 2002 the PRL, the FDF, the MCC and the PFF formed the
Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest par ...
(MR), a closer alliance of Francophone liberal parties. In January 2010 the party name was amended to Francophone Democratic Federalists (''Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones''), maintaining its original acronym. In September 2011, the FDF decided to leave the alliance over disagreements with MR president
Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the president of the European Council from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Belgium, prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Miche ...
on the agreement concerning the splitting of the
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (; ) is a judicial arrondissement encompassing the bilingual— French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking ...
district during the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation. The party adopted its current name, DéFI, in November 2015.


Policies

The party advocates the extension of the bilingual status of
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
to some
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Brussels Periphery The Brussels Periphery (, i.e. the "Brussels Rim", or ''Vlaamse Rand'', i.e. the "Flemish Rim", or just ''De Rand'', "the Rim"; ) refers to 19 Flemish municipalities that encircle the Brussels-Capital Region. The Brussels Region is an enclave of ...
(in
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...
,
Flemish Region The Flemish Region (, ), usually simply referred to as Flanders ( ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—alongside the Wallonia, Walloon Region and the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region. ...
), where a majority of the population has become French-speaking in recent years, but whose official language remains
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
. The party advocates for the right to use French rather than Dutch when dealing with local authorities in Flanders. This demand is rejected by Flemish parties, who say that French-speaking residents of the Flemish Region should learn Dutch and argue that the Francization of Brussels should not be allowed to expand into Flanders.


Representation

Notable elected members include: *
Véronique Caprasse Véronique Caprasse (born 20 November 1950 in Lüdenscheid, Germany) is a Belgian politician and a member of DéFI, a French-speaker interests party in and around the Brussels region. She was mayor of Kraainem from 2013 to 2015 and former member of ...
, member of the Chamber of Representatives for Brussels and former mayor of
Kraainem Kraainem () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Kraainem proper. On January 1, 2006, Kraainem had a total population of 13,150. The total area is , whi ...
(2013–2015) *
Bernard Clerfayt Bernard Clerfayt (; born 30 December 1961, in Uccle) is a Belgian politician. He has been the mayor of Schaerbeek since 2001 and is currently vice-president of the Front Démocratique des Francophones (FDF). As is common in Belgium, he holds a ...
, mayor of
Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...
since 2000 and member of the
Brussels Parliament The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (; ) is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three federated regions of Belgium. It is als ...
* , Minister in the Vervoort II Brussels Government (2014–2019) and mayor of
Auderghem Auderghem ( French, ; former Dutch spelling) or Oudergem ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-eastern part of the region, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to the ...
*
Cécile Jodogne Cécile Jodogne (born 1 April 1964) is a Belgian politician. In July 2014, she was appointed State Secretary of the Brussels-Capital Region, in charge of Foreign Trade, Firefighting and Emergency Medical Assistance. She is also minister and membe ...
, Secretary of State in the Vervoort II Brussels Government (2014–2019) *
Olivier Maingain Olivier D. A. Gh. Maingain (born 3 August 1958) is a Belgian francophone politician and former president of DéFI. Biography Olivier Maingain was born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert to a Flemish mother and a Walloon father, Roger Maingain (1923-2013) ...
, former party leader, member of the Chamber of Representatives for Brussels since 1991 and mayor of
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). In French, ...
since 2006


Election results


Chamber of Representatives


European Parliament


See also

*
Belgian French Belgian French () is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The French language spoken in Belgi ...
*
French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because ...
*
Languages of Belgium As a result of being in between Latin and Germanic Europe, and historically being split between different principalities, the nation has multiple official languages. The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and ...


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Federalistes Democrates Francophones Centrist parties in Belgium Francophone political parties in Belgium Liberal parties in Belgium Political parties established in 1964 1964 establishments in Belgium Regionalist parties