Walloon Region (federal Region) - Politics

Politics

Wallonia has its own powers and does not share them with the other Regions or Communities (except with the Community Wallonia-Brussels but not in the framework of the Belgian constitution, only on the basis of agreements between the Walloon Region and this French Community). Like the other Federating units of Belgium, it is entitled to pursue its own foreign policy, including the signing of treaties. According to Philippe Suinen, it is an exception among federal States, and, as pointed out recently by Michel Quévit, a quasi-State: "From 1831, the year of Belgium's independence, until the federalization of the country in 1970, Wallonia has increasingly asserted itself as a region in its own right.". There is almost no possible veto by the Belgian State (except in very rare situations), and, in many domains, Belgium is not even able to sign an international treaty without the agreement of the Walloon Parliament. There is no legal hierarchy in the structure of the Belgian federal system, no hierarchy between federal and regional authorities. That is the reason why Belgium has many aspects of a Confederation.

The directly-elected Walloon Parliament was created in June 1995, replacing the "Conseil régional wallon" (Regional Council of Wallonia). The first Council sat on 15 October 1980 and was composed of members of the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives and the Belgian Senate elected in Wallonia.

Since 23 April 1993, Belgium has been a federal state made up of Regions and Communities.

Wallonia has a parliament (one chamber with 75 members elected for five years by direct universal suffrage) and a government responsible in front of the parliament. Its parliament exercises two functions:

• It discusses and passes decrees, and can take initiatives to draw them up. Decrees are then sanctioned and promulgated by the Walloon government.
• It controls the Walloon government. Control is exercised by vote.
• It ratifies the international treaties linked to its powers.

The composition of the parliament for the 2009-2014 legislature is as follows:

• Parti Socialiste (socialist party PS): 29
• Mouvement Réformateur (liberal democrats, center right MR): 19
• Ecolo (green party): 14
• Centre Démocrate Humaniste (former Christian party: CDh): 13

There are no more representatives of the Front national (nationalist and far right party) in the Walloon Parliament.

The Walloon Government is elected by a political majority in Parliament. The government numbers nine members with the president. Each member is called a "Walloon minister".

The head of the government, called "Minister-President", is Rudy Demotte, member of the Parti Socialiste (PS).

At 16 July 2009, the future coalition government was a centre-left coalition PS-Ecolo-CDh with the same "Minister President" but other ministers, Paul Furlan, Jean-Marc Nollet, Philippe Henry, a woman Eliane Tillieux and old ministers Jean-Claude Marcourt, André Antoine. The president (speaker) of the Parliament is a member of Ecolo: Patrick Dupriez.