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The Socialist Party – Differently (Dutch: 
Socialistische Partij Anders (help·info), SP.A) is the Flemish social democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as the Socialistische Partij (SP), which in turn had branched off from the Belgische Socialistische Partij (BSP), formed by former members of the Belgische Werklieden Partij (BWP).
The party was the big winner in the 2003 election, running on a joint list (cartel) with the social liberal party Spirit. Their share of the vote went up from 9% (of the total Belgian vote) to almost 15%, a second place in the number of votes. The main victim of this resurgence was the Green! party (formerly known as Agalev). The SP.A was part of the "purple" federal coalitions of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt containing four liberal and socialist parties from the north and the south of the country from 12 July 1999 until 10 June 2007.
In 2004, the SP.A along with its partner Spirit lost the elections for the Flemish parliament. Although they won more seats in comparison to the Flemish elections of 1999, their percentage of the vote compared to the successful 2003 federal elections was considerably down. The reputation of then party leader Steve Stevaert took a beating too.
The party was briefly led by Caroline Gennez, after former president Steve Stevaert left to become governor of Limburg. Johan Vande Lanotte, who served as Minister of the Budget in the federal Government, was elected President and resigned as minister to become President on 17 October 2005. He resigned 11 June 2007, after SP.A-Spirit lost the elections for the federal parliament of 10 June 2007.[1] In these general elections, the cartel won 14 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 4 out of 40 seats in the Senate.
As of May 2009, federally, SP.A was in opposition, as unlike its Francophone counterpart PS, it is not a participant in the current Van Rompuy I Government.
In January 2009 the party had apparently changed its name to Socialisten en Progressieven Anders. This name change was however retracted, and the party baseline instead was changed from "Sociaal Progressief Alternatief" to "Socialisten en Progressieven Anders".[2]
[edit] Presidents
[edit] Presidents SP
[edit] Members holding notable public offices
[edit] Federal Politics
[edit] Regional Politics
[edit] European Politics
[edit] See also
- ^ "Vande Lanotte gooit handdoek in de ring" (in Dutch). VRT. 2007-06-11. http://www.vrtnieuws.net/cm/vrtnieuws.net/verkiezingen07/nieuws/070611_Partijbureau_SPA. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
- ^ Naam van sp.a verandert niet, begeleidende slogan wel (SP.a name doesn't change, baseline does), GvA, 17 January 2009
- ^ http://tijdslijn.s-p-a.be/partij-voorzitters/partij-voorzitters.aspx
- ^ http://tijdslijn.s-p-a.be/partij-voorzitters/partij-voorzitters.aspx
[edit] External links
