Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

The Socialist Party (French: Parti Socialiste, PS) is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party. The party is led by Elio Di Rupo, Prime Minister of Belgium as of 6 December 2011. The party also supplies the Minister-Presidents of the Walloon region and French Community (Rudy Demotte), the Brussels-Capital Region (Charles Picqué) and the German-speaking Community (Karl-Heinz Lambertz) of Belgium. In the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei (SP).

The PS is very commonly part of governing coalitions, and dominates most local authorities because of the extremely fragmented nature of Belgian political institutions, particularly in Francophone areas. In the years since 1999, the PS has simultaneously controlled five regional executive bodies: the Government of the French Community, the Walloon Government, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the COCOF, a local subsidiary in Brussels of the French Community Government, and the Government of the German-speaking Community.

The party, or its members, have from time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery and financial fraud (Cools assassination, Agusta scandal, Dassault Affair, Carolorégienne affair, ICDI affair). The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region.