Politics of Wallonia

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This article is about politics in Wallonia, with a focus on political parties and political life.

Walloon politics is similar to the politics of the French-speaking community in Belgium: the French-speaking socialist party PS is viewed as dominating both. The centre right Mouvement Réformateur (MR) is a close second, and the greens (Ecolo) and Christian Democrats, who recently renamed themselves the Centre Démocrate Humaniste (CDH) battle for a distant third place. Wallonia has no notable political party that is only active in Wallonia, and not in Brussels.

General public policy is currently dominated by the PS which has members in the regional and federal government, as well as all large and nearly all mid-size city governments. Elio Di Rupo, its president is widely seen as by far the most powerful politician in French-speaking Belgium. Many Flemish nationalists portray him as the number one in Belgium. Walloon public services are quite important and accordingly funded. The employment in Walloon public services is relatively high compared to that in the rest of the E.U.

Public radio and television are influenced by the dominant political forces, as they also are in Flanders. The Board of Directors of RTBF, the public television and radio, includes many nominees from the governing parties. The GERFA mentions the "direct intervention of the presidents of the political parties in the nomination of department managers in 2003, in spite of promises of depoliticization" (Source: GERFA, [1], point A.2.3, in French).