Reformist Movement

{{Short description|Political party in French-speaking Belgium}}

{{for|the political alliance in France|Reformist Movement (France)}}

{{Infobox political party

| colorcode = {{Political party data|color}}

| native_name = Mouvement réformateur

| abbreviation = MR

| logo = Mouvement réformateur 2023.svg

| president = Georges-Louis Bouchez

| foundation = {{start date and age|2002|03|24|df=y}}

| merger = {{ublist

| Liberal Reformist Party

| Citizens' Movement for Change

| Democratic Front of Francophones

}}

| think_tank = Centre Jean Gol

| student_wing = Fédération des Étudiants Libéraux

| youth_wing = Jeunes MR

| headquarters = National Secretariat
Avenue de la Toison D'Or 84-86
1060
Brussels, Belgium

| ideology = {{ublist

| Liberalism (Belgian)

| Pro-Europeanism

}}

| position = Centre-right

| international = Liberal International

| european = Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

| europarl = Renew Europe

| slogan = L’Avenir s’éclaire
('The Future is Brighter')

| regional = Liberal Group{{cite web |url=https://www.beneluxparl.eu/nl/politieke-fracties/ |title= Politieke fracties |website=Benelux Parliament |language=nl |access-date=8 August 2023}}

| affiliation1_title = Flemish counterpart

| affiliation1 = Open VLD

| affiliation2_title = German-speaking counterpart

| affiliation2 = Party for Freedom and Progress

| seats1_title = Chamber of Representatives
(French-speaking seats)

| seats1 = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-lower-house|constituency=60|percent=yes}}

| seats2_title = Senate
(French-speaking seats)

| seats2 = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-upper-house|constituency=24|percent=yes}}

| seats3_title = Walloon Parliament

| seats3 = {{Composition bar|20|75|hex={{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}}}

| seats4_title = Parliament of the French Community

| seats4 = {{Composition bar|32|94|hex={{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}}}

| seats5_title = Parliament of the German-speaking Community

| seats5 = {{Composition bar|3|25|hex={{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}}}

| seats6_title = Brussels Parliament
(French-speaking seats)

| seats6 = {{Composition bar|18|72|hex={{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}}}

| seats7_title = European Parliament
(French-speaking seats)

| seats7 = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|EP|percent=yes}}

| seats8_title = Benelux Parliament

| seats8 = {{Composition bar|3|22|hex={{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}}}

| colours = {{Color box|{{party color|Reformist Movement (2023)}}|border=darkgray}} Blue

| website = {{Political party data|website}}

| country = Belgium

}}

The Reformist Movement{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=David |title=Belgium: New seven-party coalition government officially sworn in |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/10/02/belgium-s-seven-party-coalition-government-sworn-in-after-nearly-500-days-of-negotiations |website=Euronews |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en |date=2 October 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Birnbaum |first1=Michael |title=Without a government for a year, Belgium shows what happens to politics without politicians |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/without-a-government-for-a-year-belgium-shows-what-happens-to-politics-without-politicians/2019/12/19/5c13cb48-20de-11ea-b034-de7dc2b5199b_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en |date=20 December 2019}} ({{langx|fr|Mouvement réformateur}}, {{IPA|fr|muvmɑ̃ ʁefɔʁmatœʁ|pron}}, MR) is a liberal{{Cite web|url=http://parties-and-elections.eu/wallonia.html|title=Wallonia/Belgium|last=Nordsieck|first=Wolfram|date=2019|website=Parties and Elections in Europe}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/tgsw/documents/TGSW_Almeida_Paper.pdf |title=Liberal Parties and European Integration |last=Almeida |first=Dimitri}}{{cite book|author1=Colin Hay|author2=Anand Menon|title=European Politics|url=https://archive.org/details/europeanpolitics00hayc|url-access=registration|date=18 January 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-928428-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/europeanpolitics00hayc/page/92 92]}} French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal{{cite web |last=Chardon |first=Frédéric |title=Des libéraux veulent créer un courant progressiste au MR: avec Christine Defraigne à leur tête? |url=https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/politique-belge/2019/03/19/des-liberaux-veulent-creer-un-courant-progressiste-au-mr-avec-christine-defraigne-a-leur-tete-2ML6ARLUEJE5VJANQW2F55ZPTM/ |access-date=2022-01-02 |website=La Libre.be |language=fr}}{{cite web |date=2019-11-26 |title=RLP, le nouveau «Rassemblement des libéraux progressistes» au sein du MR |url=https://www.lesoir.be/262769/article/2019-11-26/rlp-le-nouveau-rassemblement-des-liberaux-progressistes-au-sein-du-mr |access-date=2022-01-02 |website=Le Soir |language=fr}}{{cite book |author=Dimitri Almeida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGzZ0MpDjtsC&pg=PA107 |title=The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-69374-5 |page=107}} and conservative-liberal factions.{{cite book|author=Hans Slomp|title=Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LmfAPmwE6YYC&pg=PA465|access-date=23 August 2012|date=30 September 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39182-8|page=465}}{{cite book|author1=Peter Starke|author2=Alexandra Kaasch|author3=Franca Van Hooren|title=The Welfare State as Crisis Manager: Explaining the Diversity of Policy Responses to Economic Crisis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtMQsESYcWwC&pg=PA192|date=7 May 2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-31484-0|page=192}} Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest parties on the European continent.{{Cite web |title=MR and Open VLD celebrate 175 years of liberalism |url=https://www.aldeparty.eu/mr_and_open_vld_celebrate_175_years_of_liberalism |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=ALDE Party |language=en}}

Since October 2014, the party has provided two prime ministers: Charles Michel and Sophie Wilmès. It has been a member of every federal government since the 2000s. At the federated entities level, the MR was in charge of Wallonia from 2017 to 2019 with Willy Borsus as Minister-President of Wallonia. It is currently in charge of the French community with Pierre-Yves Jeholet as Minister-President of the French community.

The MR emerged victorious from the 2024 elections, becoming the leading French-speaking party. In Wallonia, the party came out on top with 29.6% of the vote. In Brussels, the MR also placed first, with 25.9% of the vote. Just a few days after the elections, the MR announced it would work closely with Les Engagés to quickly form governments in the Walloon Region and the French community.{{Cite web |last=Times |first=The Brussels |title='A collaboration, not a fusion': MR and Les Engagés will work together in all governments |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/1088944/a-collaboration-not-a-fusion-mr-and-les-engages-will-work-together-in-all-governments |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.brusselstimes.com |language=en}} Having a majority on the French-speaking side of the Federal parliament, they joined forces to work on the formation of a new Belgian government.{{Cite web |last=Times |first=The Brussels |title=What's the latest on Belgium's Federal Government formation? |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1132172/whats-the-latest-on-belgiums-federal-government-formation |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.brusselstimes.com |language=en}}

The MR is an alliance between three French-speaking and one German-speaking liberal parties. The Liberal Reformist Party (PRL) and the Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) started the alliance in 1993, and were joined in 1998 by the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC). The alliance was then known as the PRL-FDF-MCC federation. The alliance became the MR during a congress in 2002, where the German-speaking liberal party, the Party for Freedom and Progress joined as well.{{cite web|url=http://www.mr.be/PDF/Statuts-MR.pdf|title=Le Mouvement Réformateur: Statuts|publisher=The Reformist Movement|access-date=2007-07-08|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025708/http://www.mr.be/PDF/Statuts-MR.pdf|archive-date=2007-09-28}} The label PRL is no longer used, and the three other parties still use their own names. The MR is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party. However, on 25 September 2011, the FDF decided to leave the coalition. They did not agree with the manner in which president Charles Michel defended the rights of the French-speaking people in the agreement concerning the splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district, during the 2010–11 Belgian government formation.{{cite web|url=http://www.deredactie.be/permalink/1.1119060|title=FDF almost unanimously votes in favour of split with MR|date=25 September 2011 |publisher=deredactie.be|access-date=2011-09-25|language=nl}}