Humanist Democratic Centre

The Humanist Democratic Centre (, cdH) is a Christian-democratic and humanist French-speaking political party in Belgium. Until 2002, the party was known as the Christian Social Party (, PSC). The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community, and the Government of Wallonia, but not the federal government.
History.
The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social Party–Christian People's 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. 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 dioxine 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 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. The current president of the party is Joëlle Milquet.
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 is "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.
Presidents.
CVP/PSC
PSC
cdH
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.