The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) is a Marxist and socialist political party in Belgium. It is the only national Belgian party represented in parliament, representing all three regions: Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. Having historically been a small party, the PTB-PVDA has gained momentum since the 2010s, continuously scoring better at the elections, particularly in Wallonia and working-class communities in Brussels. It has one Member of the European Parliament, Marc Botenga, and sits in The Left group alongside other socialist parties. The party is on the left-wing to far-left of the political spectrum.
Contents
History
The Workers' Party of Belgium originated in the student movement at the end of the 1960s. Students (organized in the student union SVB – Studenten VakBeweging), mainly from the Catholic University of Leuven, turned towards the working-class movement. They considered the politics of the existing Communist Party of Belgium to be revisionist, i.e. too much turned toward social-democratic politics (represented in Belgium by the Belgian Socialist Party). They were influenced by the ideas of the Chinese Communist Party, guerrilla movements in Latin America, the movement against the Vietnam War, and the Leuven-Vlaams movement, all perceived as aspects of a worldwide struggle against colonial or neocolonial oppression and for civil or workers' rights.
Their support and participation in an important strike in the coalmines turned the movement into a political party. They founded a periodical, AMADA (Alle Macht Aan De Arbeiders – All Power To The Workers), which became the first name of their party. In 1979 the first congress was held, which adopted a Maoist programme and changed the name into PVDA-PTB. Ludo Martens became the first president, and remained an important ideologist of the party until his death in 2011.
The PTB-PVDA used to host the International Communist Seminar until 2014 which had become one of the main worldwide gatherings of communist parties.
Following its electoral defeat in 2003, the PVDA-PTB fundamentally changed its working methods and communication. On one hand, the PVDA-PTB said it would refocus on working with factory workers as well as on field work in the communities where it operates. On the other hand, the PVDA-PTB said it would officially break with what it calls its sectarian past to get closer to the concrete demands of citizens. This is reflected particularly by the demands put forward on very concrete issues, e.g. lower prices for medication, the reduction of VAT on energy products from 21% to 6%, an increase of the minimum pension, better control of rents or the lower cost of trash bags.
In preparation for the Belgian elections of June 2007, the Solidarity newspaper and the website of the party were merged in order to reach a wider public. The structures have also been "open" to a broader layer of activists.
On 2 March 2008, the work of the Eighth Congress of the PVDA-PTB was completed with a closing meeting at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. This Congress was conducted with the theme of "party renewal." A new Central Committee was elected, which in turn elected a new Bureau of the Party.
This 'shift' seems to have produced some positive results, such as an increase in membership and a rebound of the electoral score of the PVDA-PTB in recent elections. The last elections in May 2019 showed more progress: a breakthrough was realised at the Flemish and European level. Since 2018 the party is also represented in the municipal councils of larger cities in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
In September 2014, the party had more than 8,000 members, in 2020 the number had grown to 20,000.
Ideology and positions
The party is variously described as socialist and/or Marxist, with sources also variously describing it as left-wing or far-left. It is the furthest left party represented in the Belgian Federal Parliament.
The party advocates for strengthening workers' rights, increasing pensions, and decreasing the retirement age to 65, and supports expanding social programs and the welfare state. It supports increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations. It is opposed to austerity and neoliberalism.
A central part of the party's program is the "social climate revolution", which seeks to combat both climate change and social inequality.
Although the party is in favor of greater ecological policies, the party has been in opposition to restrictions on individual car use, including opposing low emissions zones in Antwerp city center, paid parking in Schaerbeek, and increased fines for illegal parking in Liège. Despite this, the party also advocates for expanding public transit and making public transit free.
Elected representatives and full-time staff observe a pay cap indexed to the wages of a "skilled worker", and the excess is donated to the party.
Foreign policy
The party abstained from the vote condemning the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in the Chamber of Representatives. According to PTB MP Nabil Boukili, "the diplomatic way is the only possible way to avoid a war". Party spokesman Raoul Hedebouw said he condemns the invasion of Ukraine but does not think NATO should be part of the solution.
According to political scientist Steven Van Hecke, in terms of foreign policy, parties such as the PVDA have both a pacifist and a socioeconomic agenda.
Historical
Historically, the party supported Marxism–Leninism and Maoism, although the party dropped references to Lenin and Mao, as well as references to other communist party governments, in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Political scientist Pascal Delwit claimed in 2014 that the PVDA still maintains a Marxist-Leninist line internally, but not to the outside world.
Electoral positioning
During the 2019 election campaign, the RePresent research centre — composed of political scientists from five universities (UAntwerpen, KU Leuven, VUB, UCLouvain and ULB) — studied the electoral programmes of Belgium's thirteen main political parties. This study classified the parties on two "left-right" axes, from "-5" (extreme left) to "5" (extreme right): a "classic" socio-economic axis, which refers to state intervention in the economic process and the degree to which the state should ensure social equality, and a socio-cultural axis, which refers to a divide articulated around an identity-based opposition on themes such as immigration, Europe, crime, the environment, emancipation, etc.
The PTB then presented the most left-wing programme, along with the PS, on the socio-economic level (-4.43), and also left-wing on the socio-cultural level (-3.73).
The RePresent centre repeated the exercise during the 2024 election campaign for the twelve main parties. The PTB maintained its positioning as the most left-wing Belgian political party on the socio-economic axis (-4.29), and remained on the left — but less so than in 2019 — on the socio-cultural axis (-2.88).
Organisations
Its monthly publication "Solidaire / Solidair" has between 3,000 and 5,000 subscribers. COMAC, The party's student movement, is active in all the universities in Belgium and in secondary schools (in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels). The PTB is responsible for Medicine for the People, through which it runs 11 health centres which provide free access to primary health care.
The newspaper Solidarity, and Medicine for the People organize "ManiFiesta", a yearly festival of solidarity between the communities and the left in Belgium. The first edition was held in Bredene (by the sea) on 25 September 2010 and brought together 6,000 people from both North and South of Belgium. The fourth edition in 2013 attracted 10,000 people.
Election results
The general elections of 2007 saw the party obtaining 0.88% in the Flemish electoral district and 0.81% in Wallonia.
In the regional elections in 2009, the PVDA-PTB gained 1.04% of the vote in Flanders (+0.48%) and 1.24% of the vote in Wallonia (+0.62%). For the European elections on the same day, the results were: 0.98% in the Dutch-speaking electoral college (+0.37%) and 1.16% in the French-speaking electoral college (+0.35%).
In the general elections of June 2010, the party saw further growth. In Flanders it now represents 1.3% (+0.4%) of the votes for the Chamber of Representatives and 1.4% (+0.5%) for the Senate. Especially in the cities progress was noted with high scores in Antwerp (4.1%) and Liège (4.2%). The highest scores were gained in the cantons of Herstal (9.8%), Assenede (7.5%) and Seraing (7.3%); all places where the PVDA-PTB traditionally is strong.
The municipal and provincial elections in 2012 were considered a breakthrough on a local level for the PVDA-PTB. The party won 52 seats in total; 31 in municipal councils, 4 in provincial councils, and 17 in the district councils.
The federal and regional elections in 2014 saw further success for the party. They elected two deputies to the Chamber of Representatives, two others to the Walloon Parliament, and finally four to the Brussels Parliament.
An opinion poll released in July 2017 suggested the party was the most popular party in Wallonia at the time, with 25% of respondents indicating they intended to vote for the party. The second-most popular party was the Mouvement Réformateur, part of the governing coalition, with 23%. The poll indicated that the Workers' Party would win 26 seats in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives if the next federal election were held immediately, putting it in tied first place with the Flemish N-VA.
The party generally increased its vote share in the 2018 local elections, and won over 15% of the vote in several French-speaking cities.
Elected politicians
European deputies
2024 – present:
Marc Botenga
Rudi Kennes
Federal deputies
2019 – 2024:
Nabil Boukili
Gaby Colebunders
Roberto d'Amico
Greet Daems
Steven De Vuyst
Raoul Hedebouw
Sofie Merckx
Peter Mertens
Nadia Moscufo
Marco Van Hees
Maria Vindevoghel
Thierry Warmoes
Regional deputies
2019 – 2024:
Brussels
Jan Busselen
Francis Dagrin
Caroline De Bock
Françoise De Smedt
Elisa Groppi
Youssef Handichi
Jean-Pierre Kerckhofs
Stéphanie Koplowicz