Members of the DéFI party on Friday elected Sophie Ronhonyi as their new president, and Baudouin Decharneux as the head of the party in the Walloon Region.
Ms. Ronhonyi got 79% of the vote, convincingly defeating her opponent, Emmanuel De Bock.
She succeeds François De Smet, who stepped down after the party’s disappointing performance in the 9 June elections, at which its seats in the 150-member federal parliament shrank from 2 to 1.
Aged 37 Sophie Rohonyi is the second woman to head DéFI. The first was Antoinette Spaak, from 1977 to 1982.
The party also chose Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) professor Baudouin Decharneux as its president in Wallonia. Decharneux received 62% of the vote. He replaces Daniel Soudant, who also resigned following an election in which DéFI failed to secure a seat in Wallonia's parliament.
“I am infinitely grateful to the DéFI members for their trust,” commented Rohonyi, acknowledging the “immense responsibility” entrusted to her and the “huge task ahead.” She called for unity to transform the party’s liberal and progressive project into a robust endorsement.
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For Rohonyi, this is paramount in the face of increasing “threats to Francophones.” She pledged to consolidate all the active forces of the party to make DéFI an indispensable political force that restores faith and hope in politics and the future. “The renewal starts now,” she declared.
Decharneux pledged, for his part, to do everything in his power to maintain unity. “Now more than ever, DéFI’s ideas and values are needed in the political landscape,” he said.
DéFI, a centrist party, was founded in 1964 as the Front Démocratique des Francophones (FDF - Democratic Front of Francophones).
In 2016, it changed its name to Démocrate Fédéraliste Indépendant (DéFI - Democratic Federalist Independent party).
