Socialistische Partij Anders

' (Different Socialist Party) ('sp.a) is a Flemish social-democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as the Socialistische Partij (SP), which in turn had branched off from the Belgian Socialist Party, itself formed by former members of the Belgian Labour Party. As of 6 December 2011, sp.a is currently part of the Di Rupo I Government as along with its Francophone counterpart the Socialist Party (PS).

History

1885-1940

1940-1978

1978-now

The party was the big winner in the 2003 election, running on a joint list (cartel) with the social-liberal party Spirit. Their share of the vote went up from 9% (of the total Belgian vote) to almost 15%, a second place in the number of votes. The main victim of this resurgence was the Green! party (formerly known as Agalev). The sp.a was part of the "purple" federal coalitions of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 12 July 1999 until 10 June 2007, which contained both the Flemish and Francophone liberal and social-democratic parties.

In 2004, the sp.a along with its partner Spirit lost the elections for the Flemish parliament. Although they won more seats in comparison to the Flemish elections of 1999, their percentage of the vote compared to the successful 2003 federal elections was considerably down. The reputation of then party leader Steve Stevaert took a beating too.

The party was briefly led by Caroline Gennez, after former president Steve Stevaert left to become governor of Limburg. Johan Vande Lanotte, who served as Minister of the Budget in the federal Government, was elected President and resigned as minister to become President on 17 October 2005. He resigned 11 June 2007, after sp.a-Spirit lost the elections for the federal parliament of 10 June 2007.^[1] In these general elections, the cartel won 14 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 4 out of 40 seats in the Senate. Afterwards, Caroline Gennez was elected President by the party members.

As of May 2009, sp.a was in opposition in federal politics; and unlike its Francophone counterpart the Socialist Party (PS), sp.a was not a participant in the Leterme II Government.

In January 2009 the party had apparently changed its name to Socialisten en Progressieven Anders. This name change was however retracted, and the party baseline instead was changed from "Sociaal Progressief Alternatief" to "Socialisten en Progressieven Anders".^[2]

In the 2010 general election sp.a won 13 seats with 9% of the overall vote. The party is currently a member of the Di Rupo I Government formed on 6 December 2011.

Presidents

Presidents SP

Members holding notable public offices

European Politics

Federal Politics

Regional Politics

Provincial Politics

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Flemish Parliament

European Parliament

See also

• Johan Vande Lanotte (2010), Vlugschrift - over welvaart en geluk, (retrivable on the website sp.a-ledenbeheer), 96 p., ISBN 9789048606290.
• Patrick Vander Weyden & Koen Abts (2010), De basis spreekt — onderzoek naar de leden, mandatarissen en kiezers van sp.a (research on members sp.a by Ghent University), Acco (Leuven/Den Haag), 239 p., ISBN 9789033475719.

External links

• (Dutch) official website sp.a

Notes