The ''Rassemblement Wallonie France'' (, ''Rally Wallonia France'', RWF) is a small political party in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. It is active in
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
and the
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...
. In Brussels it is known as the Rassemblement Bruxelles France or RBF. Its aim is the secession of Wallonia, Brussels and the six Flemish
municipalities with language facilities for French-speakers around Brussels from Belgium and to unite them with France.
The party's symbol is the red rooster,
representing Wallonia, inside a hexagon, which is a
common geometric representation of France. The blue, white, and red represent the colours of the
French national flag.
History
Defending the principles of republicanism, democracy, pluralism, and socialism, the party was founded on 27 November 1999 in
Charleroi
Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
. It was established on the basis of a reconciliation between three organisations: André Libert's
Rassemblement Wallon (RW); Paul-Henry Gendebien's Democratic Alliance Wallone (AWD), which was formed in 1985 when Gendebien left the
Social Christian Party (PSC); and the Walloon Movement for the Return to France (RF), chaired by Maurice Lebeau.
In the
2003 federal elections, the party was presented under the label "RWF-RBF". It was presented again under the label "RWF" in the
2007 federal elections, and received 1.5% of votes in the Senate against 1.2% in the Chamber of Representatives in Wallonia.
The RWF is present in every election in Wallonia and Brussels. In the
2009 regional elections, the party won 1.37% of the vote for the Walloon Parliament. In the
2009 European elections, it won 0.43% of the vote in the
French-speaking electoral college.
The RWF was refounded in 2010 on the proposal of President Paul-Henry Gendebien and the Executive Board.
In March 2012, the Constitutional Convention elected Laurent Brogniet as the new President of the RWF, and Paul-Henry Gendebien became founding president. New statutes were subject to the approval of Congress.
See also
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Natural borders of France
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Political parties in Belgium
This article contains a list of political parties in Belgium.
Belgium is a federal state with a multi-party political system, with numerous parties who factually have no chance of gaining power alone, and therefore must work with each other to ...
*
Rattachism
*
Greater Netherlands ideology
References
{{reflist
External links
Website of the RWF
Francophone political parties in Belgium
Political parties established in 1999
Rattachist organisations
1999 establishments in Belgium