Wivina Demeester-De Meyer (born 13 December 1943) is a Flemish politician who served as a Member of the Flemish Parliament and its predecessor bodies between 1974 and 1995 and 1999 and 2004; she also held various ministerial posts in the national (i.e., Belgian) and Flemish governments.
Wivinia Demeester-De Meyer was born in Aalst on 13 December 1943. Throughout her political career, she has been a member of the Flemish successor to the Christian Social Party (CVP) and, after 2001, its successor, the Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) party. In 1974, she became a Representative of Antwerp in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and was re-elected in 1977, 1978 and 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1991; her final term came to an end in 1995. She held a double mandate as a member of the Cultural Council for the Dutch Cultural Community from 1974 to 1980, when that body became the Flemish Council; she remained a member until 1995. Between 1999 and 2004, she represented Antwerp on the Council's successor, the Flemish Parliament. [1] She also served on Zoersel City Council for eighteen years before her retirement in 2006. [2]
In the meantime, she held a number of ministerial posts. Her first appointment, lasting from November 1985 to May 1988, was as State Secretary for Health and Disability Policy. In September 1988, she became State Secretary for Finance, serving until September 1991, when she became Minister for the Budget and Science Policy. Briefly in January 1992, she was appointed Minister of Finance and Budget, Internal Affairs, Welfare and Family, but from February until October of that year, she was Community Minister for Finance and Budget, Health Institutions, Welfare and Family. After that, she was Flemish Minister for the same portfolio, serving until June 1995, when she became Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget and Health Policy, a post she left in July 1999. [1]
The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that are conservative liberal and social liberal views. The party is a member of the Liberal Group, Renew Europe, and Liberal International.
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural community of Belgium.
Frank Ignace Georgette Vandenbroucke is a Belgian-Flemish academic and politician of Vooruit who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Social Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo since 2020.
Eduard Marie August "Ward" Beysen was a Belgian politician and well-known freemason. He held a degree in Dutch and history teaching, obtained in 1963, in Lier and started his political career in the seventies in the Flemish liberal party, the Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV), which was renamed Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) in 1992. Ward Beysen – suffering a depression – died by drowning himself in the lake of Fort 6 in the south of Antwerp.
The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, and the public administration divided into 13 policy areas, each with an executive department and multiple agencies.
Alfons "Fons" Borginon is a Belgian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives between 1995 and 2007. Borginon was the last chairman of the Volksunie and Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) floor leader from 2006 until the general election of 2007. He was also granted knighthood in the Belgian Order of Leopold. He is married to Kristin Ex and father of Hendrik, Irene and Margreet.
Laurette A. J. Onkelinx is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She was the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Di Rupo Government, which took office on 6 December 2011.
Magdalena Godelieve HildaAelvoet is a Belgian politician in Flanders. She was a provincial senator for Antwerp between 1985 and 1991 and a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the district of Leuven between 1991 and 1994, when she also served in the Flemish Council. She was a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999, where she was the chair of the Greens. Aelvoet was appointed deputy prime minister and the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Public Health and the Environment in the Verhofstadt I government between 1999 and 2002 and became a Minister of State in 1995.
Johan Maria Gerardus Vandeurzen is a Belgian politician, member of Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V), a centrist Flemish Christian Democratic party.
Karel Emiel Hubert, Baron Poma was a Belgian liberal and politician for the PVV.
Louis Gustaaf Waltniel was a Belgian liberal politician and industrialist. He held a master's degree in economic sciences.
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Steven Vanackere, is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II government. He is the son of Leo Vanackere, who, following a political career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of Belgium, became the Provincial Governor of West Flanders in 1979. His grandfather, Remi Wallays, had also been a senator and had been a former Mayor of Wevelgem.
Zuhal Demir is a Belgian lawyer and politician affiliated to the N-VA. Demir was elected as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2010 and served there until 2017. She is currently a member of the Flemish Parliament and the Flemish minister for Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism. Previously she served as Secretary of State for Poverty Reduction in the Belgian Government (2017-2018).
Leona Maria Detiège is a Belgian politician.
Theo Kelchtermans is a Belgian politician.
The role of Flemish Government Architect was established in 1998 under Minister-President of Flanders Van den Brande to develop Architectural Design Policy in Flanders, Belgium.
Maria Gabriella Baers was a Belgian senator, feminist, and trade unionist. Baers was the founder of Nationaal Verbond der Christelijke Vrouwengilden. In 1936, Baers and Maréchal were the first women senators in Belgium. In 1945, she became the first women Secretary of the Senate, and the first chairwomen of a parliamentary commission.
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Oana Bogdan is an architect with Belgian and Romanian nationality. Together with Leo Van Broeck, she founded the architectural firm Bogdan & Van Broeck. She is considered as an authority in the field of architecture and is much in demand as a jury member for architecture awards.