HUMANIST DEMOCRATIC CENTRE

The 'Humanist Democratic Centre' (French: ''Centre démocrate humaniste'' or ''cdH'') is a Belgian Francophone Christian democratic political party in Walloon Region. It currently participates in the governments of Brussels-Capital Region, the French Community of Belgium and the Walloon Region.

Contents

History

Ideology

External links

History

The party was founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of split of the unitary Parti Social-Chrétien/Christelijke Volkspartij (in English: Social Christian Party/Christian People's Party) in the Dutch-speaking Christian People's Party and the French-speaking Christian Social Party (PSC), following the increased linguistic tensions after the crisis at the university of Leuven in 1968.
The PSC performed particularly bad in the 1999 election. This linked to several scandals, such as the escape of Marc Dutroux and the discovery of dioxine in for-consumption chickens (the PSC was a coalition partner in the Dehaene government). The decline in votes was also linked to declining adherence to Catholicism. The party was confined to opposition on a 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 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.

Ideology

Its ideology is the «''democratic humanism, inspired by personalism inherited notably from the christian humanism''», combined with a centre-left policy towards the economy, supporting state interventionism and calling for the unity of Belgium.

External links

★ Official web site