Democratic Federalist Independent
| Democratic Federalist Independent Démocrate Fédéraliste Indépendant | |
|---|---|
| President | Olivier Maingain |
| Founded | 11 May 1964 |
| Headquarters |
Chaussée de Charleroi 127 1060 Brussels abbreviation |
| Ideology |
Interests of French speakers in Brussels, Regionalism, Liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right[1] |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | No MEPs |
| Colours | Amaranth |
| Chamber of Representatives (French-speaking seats) |
2 / 63 |
| Senate (French-speaking seats) |
0 / 24 |
| Walloon Parliament |
0 / 75 |
| Parliament of the French Community |
2 / 94 |
| Brussels Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
12 / 72 |
| European Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
0 / 8 |
| Website | |
|
www | |
|
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections | |
Democratic Federalist Independent (French: Démocrate Fédéraliste Indépendant, DéFI) is a regionalist[2][3] and liberal[1] political party in Belgium whose aim is expansion of the linguistic rights of French-speakers in the Brussels region.[4][5] "DéFI" is a homophone of the French word défi or "challenge".
The party is led by Olivier Maingain, a member of the Chamber of Representatives.
The party was founded as the Democratic Front of Francophones (Front Démocratique des Francophones, FDF) on 11 May 1964 and dominated Brussels' municipal politics until 1982.[6] In January 2010 the party name was amended to Francophone Democratic Federalists (Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones).[7] The party adopted its current title in November 2015.[8]
At the national level, the FDF was a member of the Reformist Movement (MR), the alliance of Francophone liberal parties, from 2002 until 2011, when it decided to leave the coalition over disagreements with MR president Charles Michel on the agreement concerning the splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district during the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation.[9]
Policies
The party advocates the extension of the bilingual status of Brussels to some municipalities around Brussels (in Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region), where a majority of the population is French-speaking, but the official language is Dutch, and pushes for the rights of French-speakers in Flemish municipalities to use French instead of Dutch in dealing with Dutch-speaking officials. Both stances are opposed by Flemish parties, who say that French-speaking residents of the Flemish Region should respect and learn the majority language and argue that the Francization of Brussels should not further itself into the Region.
References
- 1 2 Collectif; Petit Futé,; Dominique Auzias; Jean-Paul Labourdette (2014). Belgique 2014 Petit Futé (avec cartes, photos + avis des lecteurs). Petit Futé. p. 42. ISBN 978-2-7469-7123-3.
- ↑ Régis Dandoy; Arjan Schakel (2013). Regional and National Elections in Western Europe: Territoriality of the Vote in Thirteen Countries. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-137-02544-9.
- ↑ Peter Starke; Alexandra Kaasch; Franca Van Hooren (2013). The Welfare State as Crisis Manager: Explaining the Diversity of Policy Responses to Economic Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-137-31484-0.
- ↑ Paul F. State (2004). Historical Dictionary of Brussels. Scarecrow Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-8108-6555-6.
- ↑ Martin Buxant; Steven Samyn (2011). Belgique, un roi sans pays. EDI8 - PLON. p. 93. ISBN 978-2-259-21505-3.
- ↑ Els Witte (2009). Political History of Belgium: From 1830 Onwards. Asp / Vubpress / Upa. p. 372. ISBN 978-90-5487-517-8.
- ↑ Philippe de Riemaecker (2013). Quand les singes se prennent pour des dieux. Editions Publibook. p. 212. ISBN 978-2-7483-9789-5.
- ↑ "Le FDF est rebaptisé Défi". La Libre Belgique. Belga. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "FDF almost unanimously votes in favour of split with MR" (in Dutch). deredactie.be. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
External links
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