Politics of Wallonia
The Politics of Wallonia concern not only the government of the region of Wallonia, but also that of the French Community of Belgium, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and the Brussels-Capital Region.
Structures
Brussels-Capital (blue)
Wallonia (red)
Flemish Region(yellow)
Since 23 April, 1993, Belgium has been a federal state, divided into three geographical regions and three linguistic communities. The Walloon Region is one of the three regions, mainly French-speaking. The other two geographical regions are the Flemish Region, a mainly Dutch-speaking region in the north and west, and the Brussels-Capital, bilingual French-Dutch administering the city of Brussels. Some governmental competencies are exercised by the linguistic communities, of which the French community of Belgium is the largest in Wallonia, while the German-speaking community of Belgium's responsibilities are for an area within Wallonia.
The Parliament of Wallonia is a unicameral legislature of 75 members elected to serve five-year terms. It is based in the former Hospice Saint-Gilles at Namur.
The Government of Wallonia is responsible to the Parliament. Excepting cultural and education matters, which are controlled by the linguistic communities, the Walloon Region's competences include local administration, housing, transport, training, employment, health and social policy. The region administers a number of companies, including those responsible for the provision of water and public transport.
Parliament
The directly-elected Walloon Parliament was created in June 1995, replacing the Conseil régional wallon (Regional Council of Wallonia). This first sat on 15 October, 1980 and was composed of members of the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives and the Belgian Senate elected from Wallonia.
The composition of the parliament for the 2004-2009 legislature is as follows:
- Parti Socialiste (PS) : 34
- Mouvement réformateur (MR) : 20
- Centre démocrate humaniste (CDh) : 14
- Front national (FN) : 4
- Ecolo : 3
The president of the parliament is José Happart (PS), the Vice-Presidents are Véronique Cornet (MR), Michel Lebrun (CDh) and Charles Janssens (PS).
The 75 members of the parliament, together with 19 French-speaking members elected by the parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, form the Parliament of the French-Speaking community of Belgium. Since 1999 elections have been held together with those for the European Parliament.
Government
| Name | Porfolio |
|---|---|
| Rudi Demotte (PS) | Minister-President |
| André Antoine (CDh) | Minister for Housing, Transport and Development. |
| Michel Daerden (PS) | Minister for the Budget and Finance. |
| Marie Arena (PS) | Minister for Training |
| Philippe Courard (PS) | Minister for the Interior, Administration, Health, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities |
| Marie-Dominique Simonet (CDh) | Minister for Research, Technology and External Affairs. |
| Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) | Minister for the Economy, Employment and Trade. |
| Benoit Lutgen (CDh) | Minister for Agricultural, Rural Affairs, the Environment and Tourism. |
Michel Daerden, Marie Arena and Marie-Dominique Simonet also serve in the government of the Brussels-Capital Region.