Reformist Movement
The Reformist Movement (French: Mouvement Réformateur, MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium.
MR is traditionally a conservative-liberal party, but it also contains social-liberal factions.
Reformist Movement Mouvement Réformateur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | MR |
| President | Georges-Louis Bouchez |
| Founded | 24 March 2002 |
| Merger of | Liberal Reformist Party Citizens' Movement for Change Democratic Front of Francophones (2002–2010) |
| Headquarters | National Secretariat Avenue de la Toison D'Or 84-86 1060 Brussels, Belgium |
| Think tank | Centre Jean Gol |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Regional affiliation | Liberal Group |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Flemish counterpart | Open VLD |
| German-speaking counterpart | Party for Freedom and Progress |
| Colours | Blue |
| Chamber of Representatives (French-speaking seats) | 14 / 61 |
| Senate (French-speaking seats) | 8 / 24 |
| Walloon Parliament | 20 / 75 |
| Parliament of the French Community | 30 / 94 |
| Parliament of the German-speaking Community | 3 / 25 |
| Brussels Parliament (French-speaking seats) | 18 / 72 |
| European Parliament (French-speaking seats) | 2 / 8 |
| Benelux Parliament | 2 / 21 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The party was in coalition as part of the Michel Government and then the Wilmès Government from October 2014, having provided two prime ministers since. After the 2007 general election the MR was the largest Francophone political formation in Belgium, a position that was regained by the Socialist Party in the 2010 general election. It currently serves as part of the seven party De Croo Government.
The MR is an alliance between three French-speaking and one German-speaking liberal parties. The Liberal Reformist Party (PRL) and the Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) started the alliance in 1993, and were joined in 1998 by the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC). The alliance was then known as the PRL-FDF-MCC federation. The alliance became the MR during a congress in 2002, where the German-speaking liberal party, the Party for Freedom and Progress joined as well. The label PRL is no longer used, and the three other parties still use their own names. The MR is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party. However, on 25 September 2011, the FDF decided to leave the coalition. They did not agree with the manner in which president Charles Michel defended the rights of the French-speaking people in the agreement concerning the splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district, during the 2010–11 Belgian government formation.
Ideology and policies
Although the MR's original ideology emphasised classical liberalism and free market economics, it joined the general trend of Belgian liberals to accept elements of social liberalism under the influence of Dirk Verhofstadt, whose brother Guy Verhofstadt led the MR's Flemish counterpart, the Open VLD. However, during Georges-Louis Bouchez's tenure as party president, the party shifted to the right.
On its current platform, the party states that it is economically and socially liberal. It supports lower taxes, aims to maximize the well-being of citizens but also wants to fight tax evasion. MR also supports Belgian participation in the European Union and NATO.
Presidents
- 2002–2003: Daniel Ducarme
- 2003–2004: Antoine Duquesne
- 2004–2011: Didier Reynders
- 2011–2014: Charles Michel
- 2014–2019: Olivier Chastel
- 2019: Charles Michel
- 2019–present: Georges-Louis Bouchez
Representation in EU Institutions
In the European Parliament, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe group with two MEPs.
In the European Committee of the Regions, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe CoR group, with one full and one alternate member for the 2020-2025 mandate. Willy Borsus is second vice-president of the Renew Europe CoR Group.
Electoral results
Chamber of Representatives
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 623,250 | 10.3 | 19 / 150 | Opposition | |
| 1999 | 630,219 | 10.1 | 18 / 150 |  1 | Coalition |
| 2003 | 748,954 | 11.4 | 24 / 150 |  6 | Coalition |
| 2007 | 835,073 | 12.5 | 23 / 150 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2010 | 605,617 | 9.3 | 18 / 150 | 5 | Coalition |
| 2014 | 650,260 | 9.6 | 20 / 150 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2019 | 512,825 | 7.6 | 14 / 150 | 6 | Coalition |
Senate
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 672,798 | 11.2 | 5 / 40 | |
| 1999 | 654,961 | 10.6 | 5 / 40 |  0 |
| 2003 | 795,757 | 12.2 | 5 / 40 | 0 |
| 2007 | 815,755 | 12.3 | 6 / 40 | 1 |
| 2010 | 599,618 | 9.3 | 4 / 40 | 2 |
Regional
Brussels Parliament
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F.E.C. | Overall | |||||
| 1989 | 83,011 | 18.9 (#2) | 15 / 75 | Opposition | ||
| 1995 | 144,478 | 35.0 (#1) | 28 / 75 | 13 | Coalition | |
| 1999 | 146,845 | 40.1 (#1) | 34.4 (#1) | 27 / 75 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2004 | 127,122 | 32.5 (#2) | 28.0 (#2) | 25 / 89 | 2 | Opposition |
| 2009 | 121,905 | 29.8 (#1) | 26.5 (#1) | 24 / 89 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 94,227 | 23.0 (#2) | 20.4 (#2) | 18 / 89 | 6 | Opposition |
| 2019 | 65,502 | 16.9 (#3) | 14.3 (#3) | 13 / 89 | 5 | Opposition |
Walloon Parliament
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 447,542 | 23.7 (#2) | 19 / 75 | Opposition | |
| 1999 | 470,454 | 24.7 (#2) | 21 / 75 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2004 | 478,999 | 24.3 (#2) | 20 / 75 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2009 | 469,792 | 23.1 (#2) | 19 / 75 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 546,363 | 26.7 (#2) | 25 / 75 | 6 | Opposition |
| 2019 | 435,878 | 21.4 (#2) | 20 / 75 | 5 | Coalition |
European Parliament
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F.E.C. | Overall | ||||
| 1979 | 372,904 | 17.8 (#4) | 6.8 | 2 / 24 | |
| 1984 | 540,610 | 24.1 (#2) | 3 / 24 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 423,479 | 18.9 (#2) | 7.2 | 2 / 24 | 1 |
| 1994 | 541,724 | 24.2 (#2) | 3 / 25 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 624,445 | 27.0 (#1) | 10.0 | 3 / 25 | 0 |
| 2004 | 671,422 | 27.6 (#2) | 10.3 | 3 / 24 | 0 |
| 2009 | 640,092 | 26.0 (#2) | 9.7 | 2 / 22 | 1 |
| 2014 | 661,332 | 27.1 (#2) | 9.9 | 3 / 22 | 1 |
| 2019 | 470,654 | 19.3 (#3) | 7.1 | 2 / 22 | 1 |
Notable figures
See also
References
External links
Media related to Mouvement Réformateur at Wiki Commons
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