The
New Flemish Alliance (
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
: , N-VA) is a
FlemishThe term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:# Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemish people" or the "Flemish nation"...
centre-rightThe centre-right , also known as right of center, is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances...
political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. It is a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
movement that strives for peaceful
secessionThe partition of Belgium, or the dissolution of the Belgian State through the separation of the Dutch-speaking peoples of the Flanders region from the French-speaking peoples of the Walloon Region, granting them either independence or respective accession to the Netherlands and France, is...
of
FlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands...
from
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. The party is also known for fighting for laws that force the non-native
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
speaking inhabitants of Flanders to only use Dutch, Flanders' sole official language, in their communication with the government, and for the promotion of the use of Dutch in Flanders as the language enabling integration.
In 2001, the
People's UnionVolksunie was a Belgian political party, formed in 1954 as a successor to the "Christian Flemish People's Union", an electoral alliance of Flemish nationalists....
split into two parties: Spirit and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA).
The
New Flemish Alliance (
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
: , N-VA) is a
FlemishThe term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:# Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemish people" or the "Flemish nation"...
centre-rightThe centre-right , also known as right of center, is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances...
political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. It is a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
movement that strives for peaceful
secessionThe partition of Belgium, or the dissolution of the Belgian State through the separation of the Dutch-speaking peoples of the Flanders region from the French-speaking peoples of the Walloon Region, granting them either independence or respective accession to the Netherlands and France, is...
of
FlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands...
from
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. The party is also known for fighting for laws that force the non-native
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
speaking inhabitants of Flanders to only use Dutch, Flanders' sole official language, in their communication with the government, and for the promotion of the use of Dutch in Flanders as the language enabling integration.
People's Union
In 2001, the
People's UnionVolksunie was a Belgian political party, formed in 1954 as a successor to the "Christian Flemish People's Union", an electoral alliance of Flemish nationalists....
split into two parties: Spirit and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). This was the result of internal struggles between the right-wing base and the left-wing leadership. The chairman of the People's Union,
Geert BourgeoisGeert Albert Bourgeois is a Flemish politician and lawyer. He is a former Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Foreign Policy, Media and Tourism.-Political career:...
, won a referendum among the members with 47% of the votes. The
social-liberalSocial liberalism, a reformulation of 19th century liberalism, rests on the view that unrestrained capitalism is a hindrance to true freedom. Instead of the negative freedom of classical liberalism, social liberals offered positive freedom that would allow individuals to prosper with public...
group of
Bert AnciauxBert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux is a Belgian politician, a founder and former member of Spirit...
got 22% of the votes. 31% voted against a split. Since no group got over 50%, the name
Volksunie could no longer be used by either faction.
The N-VA entered into an election cartel with the
Christian Democratic and FlemishThe Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party...
(CD&V) for the elections in 2004, and did so again for the 2007 elections. The cartel was briefly broken when
Jean-Marie DedeckerJean-Marie Louis Dedecker is a Belgian Flemish politician.In 1999 and 2003, Dedecker was directly elected to the Belgian Senate. In 2004 Dedecker ran for a seat in the Flemish Parliament, after taking his seat in the Flemish Parliament, Dedecker was elected by his colleagues as a community senator...
entered the N-VA on behalf of the party executive. However, the party congress did not put Dedecker on the election list, instead preferring to continue the cartel with CD&V. Dedecker saw this as a vote of no confidence, and left the party after only 10 days, later forming his own party,
List Dedecker. Deputy leader Brepoels, who supported Dedecker, stepped down from the party board afterwards. The cartel ended definitely, on 24 September 2008.
Foundation and ideology
The New Flemish Alliance is a relatively young political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. Being one of the continuators of the Volksunie (1954-2001), it is, however, based on an established political tradition. The N-VA works towards the same goal as its predecessor: to shape a radical Flemish-nationalism in a contemporary way.
In the political sphere, the N-VA pleads for a Flemish republic, member state of a democratic European confederation. The party believes that the challenges of the 21st century can best be answered from strong communities on the one hand and from a well developed international co-operation on the other hand. This is reflected in their baseline: "Necessary in Flanders, useful in Europe." (.)
Membership
The N-VA has members across the political spectrum, but as a whole it is considered centre-right. It is seen as a democratic alternative to the
far rightFar right, extreme right, hard right, ultra-right or radical right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum...
Flemish party
Vlaams BelangVlaams Belang is a political party in the Flemish Community of Belgium that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
. Its motives for secession are mainly pragmatic and rational.
Electorate
At the
federal electionsThe 18 May 2003 Belgian general elections were the first Belgian elections to be held under a new electoral code. One of the novelties was an electoral threshold of 5%, which has cost many seats to the N-VA and the Green parties, Ecolo and Agalev...
in 2003 N-VA got 3.1% of the votes, but only one seat in the federal parliament. In February 2004 they formed an electoral alliance (cartel) with
Christian Democratic and FlemishThe Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party...
. The cartel won the elections for the Flemish parliament. The N-VA received a total of 6 seats. However, on 21 September 2008 the N-VA lost its faith in the federal government and the following day minister Geert Bourgeois resigned. In a press conference he confirmed the end of the cartel CD&V/N-VA.
2007 elections
In the 10 June 2007
general electionsThe 2007 Belgian general election took place on Sunday, June 10, 2007. Voters went to the polls in order to elect new members for the Chamber of Representatives and Senate.Eligible voters were Belgian citizens 18 years and older...
, the cartel won 30 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 9 out of 40 seats in the
SenateThe Belgian Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament.-Composition:...
.
2009 elections
In the
regional elections of June 11,2009Regional elections were held in Belgium on 7 June 2009 to choose representatives in the regional councils of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium...
, N-VA, now on its own after the break of the cartel with
CD&VThe Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party...
won an unexpected 13% of the votes, making them the winner of the elections together with the old cartel partner. N-VA subsequently joined the government, with De Wever choosing to remain party president and appointing
Geert BourgeoisGeert Albert Bourgeois is a Flemish politician and lawyer. He is a former Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Foreign Policy, Media and Tourism.-Political career:...
and Philippe Muyters as ministers in the
Flemish governmentThe Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. It consists of up to maximum eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament...
and Jan Peumans as speaker of the
Flemish parliamentThe Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders, for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and a cultural community of Belgium.The Flemish Parliament approves decrees, which are Flemish laws, applicable to all persons in the Flemish...
.
Members in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives
- Bart De Wever
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever is a Flemish politician and since 2004 has been the president of the N-VA, a Flemish party that strives for a strong Flanders in a united Europe. He has also been a member of the Flemish parliament since 2004...
- Els De Rammelaere
- Sarah Smeyers
- Flor Van Noppen
- Jan Jambon
- Ben Weyts
- Patrick De Groote
Members in the Flemish Parliament
- Jan Peumans (speaker of the house)
- Vera Celis
- Lieven Dehandschutter
- Mark Demesmaeker
- Bart De Wever
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever is a Flemish politician and since 2004 has been the president of the N-VA, a Flemish party that strives for a strong Flanders in a united Europe. He has also been a member of the Flemish parliament since 2004...
- Sophie De Wit
- Matthias Diependaele
- Tine Eerlingen
- Danielle Godderis-T'Jonck
- Marc Hendrickx
- Liesbeth Homans
- Lies Jans
- Willy Segers
- Helga Stevens
Helga Stevens is a Belgian politician and a member of the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie. She was elected as a member of the Belgian Senate in 2007. She is deaf....
- Wilfried Vandaele
- Kris Van Dijck
See also
- Christian Democratic and Flemish
The Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party...
(CD&V)
- Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a political party in the Flemish Community of Belgium that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
- Ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations...
External links