Centre démocrate humaniste

The Humanist Democratic Centre (French: Centre démocrate humaniste, cdH) is a Christian-democratic[7][8][9][10] and humanist[7] French-speaking political party in Belgium.[11][12] Until 2002, the party was known as the Christian Social Party (French: Parti Social Chrétien, PSC). The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community the Walloon Government, but no longer, following the May 2014 national elections, the Belgian federal government.

"Parti Social Chrétien (Belgium)" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct).
Humanist Democratic Centre

Centre démocrate humaniste
PresidentMaxime Prévot
Founded1968
Preceded byChristian Social Party
HeadquartersNational secretariat
Rue des Deux Églises, Brussels
Ideology
Factions:
Political positionCentre[5][6] to centre-left[7]
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Flemish counterpartChristian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)
German-speaking counterpartChristian Social Party
Colours          Brown, Orange
Chamber of Representatives
(French-speaking seats)
5 / 63
Senate
(French-speaking seats)
4 / 24
Walloon Parliament
10 / 75
Parliament of the French Community
11 / 94
Brussels Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
6 / 72
European Parliament
(French-speaking seats)
1 / 8
Website
www.lecdh.be

History

The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social Party–Christian People's 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 in 1968. The PSC performed particularly badly in the 1999 general election. This was linked to several scandals, such as the escape of Marc Dutroux and the discovery of dioxine 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 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. The current president of the party is Joëlle Milquet.

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.

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 is "democratic humanism, inspired by personalism inherited notably from Christian humanism", which includes a centre-left policy towards the economy, supporting state interventionism and calling for the unity of Belgium.

Presidents

CVP/PSC

PSC

cdH

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

Federal Parliament

Results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium.

1991 Belgian general election1987 Belgian general election1985 Belgian general election1981 Belgian general election1978 Belgian general election1977 Belgian general election1974 Belgian general election1971 Belgian general election
Chamber of Representatives (Chambre des Représentants)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/– Government
1995 469,101 7.7 (#3)
12 / 150
12 / 59
 in coalition
1999 365,318 5.9 (#4)
10 / 150
10 / 59
 2 in opposition
2003 359,660 5.5 (#3)
8 / 150
8 / 62
 2 in opposition
2007 404,077 6.0 (#3)
10 / 150
10 / 62
 2 in coalition
2010 360,441 5.5 (#3)
9 / 150
9 / 62
 1 in coalition
2014 336,281 5.0 (#3)
9 / 150
9 / 63
 in opposition
2019 250,861 3.7 (#5)
5 / 150
5 / 63
 4 confidence and supply
Senate (Sénat)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/–
1995 434,492 7.3 (#3)
3 / 40
3 / 15
1999 374,002 6.0 (#4)
3 / 40
3 / 15
 0
2003 362,705 5.5 (#3)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 1
2007 390,852 5.9 (#3)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 0
2010 331,870 5.1 (#4)
2 / 40
2 / 15
 0

Regional parliaments

Brussels Parliament
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of language
group vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of language
group seats won		 +/– Government
1989 51,904 11.9 (#4)
9 / 75
 in coalition
1995 38,244 9.3 (#3)
7 / 75
 2 in opposition
1999 33,815 7.9 (#4)
6 / 75
 1 in opposition
2004 55,078 14.1 (#3)
10 / 89
10 / 72
 4 in coalition
2009 60,527 14.8 (#4)
11 / 89
11 / 72
 1 in coalition
2014 48,021 11.73 (#4)
9 / 89
9 / 72
 2 in coalition
2019 29,436 7.58 (#6)
6 / 89
6 / 72
 3 in opposition

Walloon Parliament
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Government
1995 407,741 21.6 (#3)
16 / 75
 in coalition
1999 325,229 17.1 (#4)
14 / 75
 2 in opposition
2004 347,348 17.6 (#3)
14 / 75
 0 in coalition
2009 323,952 16.1 (#4)
13 / 75
 1 in coalition
2014 305,281 15.09 (#3)
13 / 75
 0 in coalition
2019 223,775 11.00 (#5)
10 / 75
 3 in opposition

European Parliament
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 % of electoral
college vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of electoral
college seats won		 +/–
1979 445,912 21.2 (#2)
3 / 24
3 / 11
1984 436,108 19.5 (#3)
2 / 24
2 / 11
 1
1989 476,795 21.3 (#2)
2 / 24
2 / 11
 0
1994 420,198 18.8 (#3)
2 / 25
2 / 10
 0
1999 307,912 13.3 (#4)
1 / 25
1 / 10
 1
2004 368,753 15.2 (#3)
1 / 24
1 / 9
 0
2009 327,824 13.3 (#4)
1 / 22
1 / 8
 0
2014 276,879 4.14 11.36 (#4)
1 / 21
1 / 8
 0
2019 218,078 3.24 8.94 (#5)
1 / 21
1 / 8
 0

Further reading
  • Beke, Wouter (2004). Steven Van Hecke; Emmanuel Gerard (eds.). Living Apart Together: Christian Democracy in Belgium. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War. Leuven University Press. pp. 133–158. ISBN 90-5867-377-4.
  • Lamberts, Emiel (2004). Michael Gehler; Wolfram Kaiser (eds.). The Zenith of Christian Democracy: The Christelijke Volkspartij/Parti Social Chrétien in Belgium. Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945. Routledge. pp. 59–73. ISBN 0-7146-5662-3.
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References
  1. https://www.rtbf.be/info/dossier/chroniques/detail_les-voies-du-cdh-philippe-walkowiak?id=8226192
  2. https://www.laprovince.be/201223/article/2018-03-07/un-tract-du-cdh-seresien-assez-conservateur
  3. https://plus.lesoir.be/244933/article/2019-08-31/maxime-prevot-au-soir-si-le-cdh-change-de-nom-le-mot-humaniste-ny-figurera
  4. https://www.boulettesmagazine.be/politique-et-peket-linterview-barquette-de-carine-clotuche/
  5. Keman, Hans (25 July 2008). "The Low Countries: Confrontation and Coalition in Segmented Societies". In Colomer, Josep M. (ed.). Comparative European Politics (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 220. ISBN 1-134-07354-2.
  6. Annesley, Claire (2005), Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, Routledge, p. 179
  7. "Appendix A3: Political Parties" (PDF). European Social Survey (9th ed.). 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  8. Hans Slomp (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  9. Thomas Poguntke; Paul Webb (21 June 2007). The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies. Oxford University Press. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-0-19-921849-3. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  10. Colin Hay; Anand Menon (18 January 2007). European Politics. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-0-19-928428-3.
  11. Billiet, Jaak; Maddens, Bart; Frognier, André-Paul (2006). "Does Belgium (still) exist? Differences in political culture between Flemings and Walloons". West European Politics. 29 (5): 912–932. doi:10.1080/01402380600968802.
  12. Lees-Marshment, Jennifer (2009). Political Marketing: Principles and Applications. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-415-43129-3.
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