Humanist Democratic Centre

Humanist Democratic Centre (, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist French-speaking political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) which had been the country's governing party for much of the post-war period. It continued to be called the Christian Social Party (, PSC) until 2002 when it was renamed the Humanist Democratic Centre. It was refounded as Les Engagés in 2022.

History The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social 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. A similar split already happened in 1936 when the Catholic Bloc split into the dutchophone Catholic Flemish People's Party and francophone Catholic Social Party. 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 dioxins 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 in 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.

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 was "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, while also containing a centre-right faction on social issues and supporting tougher measures on crime. Presently, the party considers itself to be a movement rather than a party, and calls for citizen-led initiatives and more engagement between the public and politicians.

Presidents CVP/PSC 1945–1947 August De Schryver 1949–1950 François-Xavier van der Straten-Waillet 1950–1961 Théo Lefèvre 1961–1966 Paul Vanden Boeynants 1966–1972 Robert J. Houben

PSC 1972–1976 Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb 1976–1977 Georges Gramme 1977–1979 Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb 1979–1981 Paul Vanden Boeynants 1981–1996 Gérard Deprez 1996–1998 Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb 1998–1999 Philippe Maystadt 1999–2002 Joëlle Milquet

cdH 2002–2011 Joëlle Milquet 2011–2019 Benoît Lutgen 2019–2022 Maxime Prévot

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

Election Votes % Seats ± Government 1971 327,393 6.2 1974 478,209 9.1 7 1977 545,055 9.8 2 1978 560,440 10.1 1 1981 390,896 6.5 7 1985 482,254 7.9 2 1987 491,908 8.0 1 1991 476,730 7.7 1 1995 469,101 7.7 6 1999 365,318 5.9 2 2003 359,660 5.5 2 2007 404,077 6.0 2 2010 360,441 5.5 1 2014 336,281 5.0 2019 250,861 3.7 4

Senate Election Votes % Seats ± 1971 1,547,853 29.7 1974 430,512 10.0 1977 522,613 9.5 1 1978 535,939 9.8 1 1981 414,733 6.9 4 1985 475,119 7.9 2 1987 474,370 7.8 2 1991 483,961 7.9 1 1995 434,492 7.3 6 1999 374,002 6.0 0 2003 362,705 5.5 1 2007 390,852 5.9 0 2010 331,870 5.1 0

Regional

Brussels Parliament Election Votes % Seats ± Government Overall 1989 51,904 11.9 (#4) 1995 38,244 9.3 (#3) 2 1999 33,815 14.1 (#4) 7.9 (#4) 1 2004 55,078 14.1 (#3) 12.1 (#3) 4 2009 60,527 14.8 (#4) 13.1 (#4) 1 2014 48,021 11.7 (#4) 10.4 (#4) 2 2019 29,436 7.6 (#6) 6.4 (#6) 3

Walloon Parliament Election Votes % Seats ± Government 1995 407,741 21.6 (#3) 1999 325,229 17.1 (#3) 2 2004 347,348 17.6 (#3) 0 2009 323,952 16.1 (#4) 1 2014 305,281 15.2 (#3) 0 2019 223,775 11.0 (#4) 3

European Parliament Election Votes % Seats ± Overall 1979 445,912 21.2 (#2) 8.2 1984 436,108 19.5 (#3) 1 1989 476,795 21.3 (#3) 8.1 0 1994 420,198 18.8 (#3) 4.9 0 1999 307,912 13.3 (#4) 4.9 1 2004 368,753 15.2 (#3) 5.7 0 2009 327,824 13.3 (#4) 5.0 0 2014 276,879 11.4 (#4) 4.1 0 2019 218,078 8.9 (#5) 3.2 0

Humanist Democratic Centre

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