| DéFI | |
| Leader1 Title: | President |
| Leader1 Name: | François De Smet |
| Foundation: | 11 May 1964 |
| Headquarters: | Chaussée de Charleroi 127 1060 Brussels |
| Ideology: | Regionalism[1] Liberalism Social liberalism |
| Position: | Centre to centre-right[2] [3] [4] [5] |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Representatives (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats3 Title: | Walloon Parliament |
| Seats4 Title: | Parliament of the French Community |
| Seats5 Title: | Brussels Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats6 Title: | European Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
| Colours: | Amaranth |
| Country: | Belgium |
DéFI (in French pronounced as /defi/; abbreviation of Démocrate fédéraliste indépendant pronounced as /fr/) is a social-liberal[5] [1] [4] and regionalist[6] [7] [1] political party in Belgium mainly known for defending French-speakers' interests in and near the Brussels region.[8] [9] Founded in 1964, the party is led by François De Smet, a member of the Chamber of Representatives. The party's current name, DéFI or Défi, was adopted in 2016 and is a backronym of Démocrate, Fédéraliste, Indépendant (literally, "Democratic, Federalist, Independent") meaning "challenge" in French.
The party was founded as the Democratic Front of Francophones (Front Démocratique des Francophones, FDF) on 11 May 1964 as a response to the language laws of 1962. The party had instant success in Brussels: it first contested parliamentary elections one year later, where it won one senator and 3 seats in the Chamber of Representatives for the constituency of Brussels. Its number of seats increased further in the subsequent parliamentary elections. The party also dominated Brussels' municipal politics until 1982.[10]
Initially the party cooperated with the Walloon Rally. From 1977 until 1980, the FDF participated in the federal governments led by Leo Tindemans and subsequently Wilfried Martens. From 1992, the FDF regularly competed in electoral alliance with the larger Liberal Reformist Party (PRL). In 2002 the PRL, the FDF, the MCC and the PFF formed the Reformist Movement (MR), a closer alliance of Francophone liberal parties.
In January 2010 the party name was amended to Francophone Democratic Federalists (Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones), maintaining its original acronym.[11] In September 2011, the FDF decided to leave the alliance over disagreements with MR president Charles Michel on the agreement concerning the splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district during the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation.[12]
The party adopted its current name, DéFI, in November 2015.[13]
The party advocates the extension of the bilingual status of Brussels to some municipalities in the Brussels Periphery (in Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region), where a majority of the population is French-speaking, but the official language is Dutch, and pushes for the rights of French-speakers in Flemish municipalities to use French instead of Dutch in dealing with Dutch-speaking officials. Both stances are opposed by Flemish parties, who say that French-speaking residents of the Flemish Region should learn Dutch and argue that the Francization of Brussels should not further itself into the Region.
Notable elected members include:
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Paul Brien | 68,966 | 1.33 | New | |||
| 1968 | Albert Peeters | 154,023 | 2.97 | 3 | |||
| 1971 | 286,639 | 5.43 | 2 | ||||
| 1974 | André Lagasse | 301,303 | 5.73 | 4 | |||
| 1977 | Léon Defosset | 263,104 | 4.72 | 1 | |||
| 1978 | Antoinette Spaak | 259,019 | 4.68 | 0 | |||
| 1981 | 253,720 | 4.21 | 5 | ||||
| 1985 | Georges Clerfayt | 72,361 | 1.19 | 3 | |||
| 1987 | 71,338 | 1.16 | 0 | ||||
| 1991 | 90,813 | 1.47 | 0 | ||||
| 1995 | Olivier Maingain | 623,250 | 10.26 | 1 | |||
| 1999 | 630,219 | 10.14 | 0 | ||||
| 2003 | Merged into Reformist Movement | ||||||
| 2007 | |||||||
| 2010 | |||||||
| 2014 | Olivier Maingain | 121,384 | 1.80 | 2 | |||
| 2019 | 150,394 | 2.22 | 0 | ||||
| 2024 | François De Smet | 84,024 | 1.20 | 2 |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||||
| 1979 | Antoinette Spaak | 414,603 | 19.75 (#3) | 7.62 | New | NI | |
| 1984 | Unclear | 142,879 | 6.38 (#5) | 2.50 | 2 | − | |
| 1989 | François Roelants du Vivier | 85,867 | 3.83 (#5) | 1.46 | 0 | ||
| 1994 | Jean Gol | 541,724 | 24.25 (#2) | 9.08 | 1 | ELDR | |
| 1999 | Daniel Ducarme | 624,445 | 26.99 (#1) | 10.03 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Merged into Reformist Movement | ||||||
| 2009 | |||||||
| 2014 | Cristina Coteanu | 82,540 | 3.38 (#6) | 1.23 | 0 | − | |
| 2019 | Benoit Cassart | 144,555 | 5.92 (#6) | 2.15 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | Fabrice Van Dorpe | 75,243 | 2.91 (#6) | 1.05 | 0 | ||