| Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Olivier Maingain |
| Founded | 11 May 1964 |
| Headquarters | National Secretariat Chaussée de Charleroi 127 1060 Brussels |
| Ideology | Interests of French speakers in Brussels, Liberalism |
| European Parliament Group | ELDR Group (1994-99) |
| Official colours | Purple |
| German-speaking counterpart | PFF |
| Website | |
| www.fdf.be | |
| Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections |
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The Francophone Democratic Federalists (French: Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones, until January 2010 Democratic Front of the Francophones, French: Front Démocratique des Francophones; FDF), is a Francophone political party based in Brussels, Belgium founded on 11 May 1964. Until 1982, the FDF dominated Brussels' municipal politics. It is led by Deputy Olivier Maingain.
On the national level it was a constituent part of the Reformist Movement, an alliance of Francophone liberal parties until 25 September 2011. On that day, 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 2010–2011 Belgian government formation [1].
The FDF aims at defending and expanding the linguistic rights of French-speakers in and around Brussels.
The party advocates extension of the bilingual status of the Brussels-Capital Region to many currently officially Dutch-speaking municipalities around Brussels (in Flemish Brabant), where a majority of the population is French-speaking due to recent immigration from Brussels and Wallonia. This is strongly opposed by all Flemish parties, who say that these newer inhabitants should respect and learn the language of their new region. This would expand the public services in French to all French-speakers who live in those areas. The FDF advocates also the dismantling of several measures hindering the French-speaking citizens of those municipalities from using French in their contacts with the administration. This is opposed by all Flemish parties, who argue that the linguistic border and federal structure is fixed since the state reforms in recent decades, and that the Frenchification of Brussels should not further itself into the Flemish Region.
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