Parliament of Wallonia


The Parliament of Wallonia is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium. The parliament building, the former Hospice Saint-Gilles, is situated in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, at the symbolic confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre, the two main rivers of the most inhabited parts of Wallonia, the Sillon industriel. On the other side of the Meuse, facing the Parliament, is the Élysette, the seat of the Walloon government.

History and names

A 1974 law on the temporary creation of regions installed a Walloon Regional Council, which were both abolished in 1977. At the creation of the first regional assemblies in 1980, the body was also called "Walloon Regional Council". Its members were the national representatives and senators elected in the Walloon Region, who thus by law held two offices simultaneously.
The fourth state reform transformed Belgium into a federal state and changed the "Walloon Regional Council" into the "Council of the Walloon Region", which was directly elected for the first time on 21 May 1995. Shortly before these elections, in April 1995, the Council adopted a resolution to use the terms "Walloon Parliament" and "Walloon deputies".
A 2005 constitutional amendment revised the official terminology for all community and regional councils into community and regional parliaments, changing the "Council of the Walloon Region" into the "Walloon Parliament".
In 2015, the Parliament opted to use the term "Parliament of Wallonia" instead of "Walloon Parliament".
, beneath the Namur Citadel

Composition

All members of the Parliament of Wallonia are also members of the Parliament of the French Community, except for German-speaking members who represent the German-speaking population and are advisory members of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community.
The parliament exercises several functions:

2019-2024 (current)

2014-2019

This is the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2014 regional election.

2009-2014

This is the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2009 regional election. The PS, Ecolo and CDH formed together a government.

2004-2009

This was the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2004 regional election. The PS and CDH formed together a government.

1999-2004

This was the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 1999 regional election. The PS, Ecolo and PRL formed together a government.
1995–1999
1999–2004
2004–2009
2009–2014
2014–2019
2019–present

Constituencies

The Walloon Parliament is the only Belgian parliament which still uses arrondissement-based constituencies. The federal Chamber of Representatives and the Flemish Parliament both merged theirs into larger province-based constituencies.
A January 2018 law merged both Luxembourg constituencies and reformed the Hainaut constituencies, following a successful challenge by Ecolo to the Constitutional Court that constituencies with too few seats are unrepresentative.