Les Engagés announced on Sunday the ministers that will make up the next centre-right governments in Wallonia and the French Community of Belgium.
With MR and Les Engagés having confirmed their participation in the new French-speaking governments (excluding Brussels which remains to be decided), Les Engagés have announced which MPs will be receiving high-profile positions.
MR's ministers have not been announced, but it is widely expected that they will lead the minister-presidency for Wallonia, leaving the top job at the French Community of Belgium to their allies.
Les Engagés' most notable announcement from Sunday is Elisabeth Degryse, who has become the Minister-President of the new French Community Government, also known as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
As a community government, the French-speaking Community has authority in the "soft" fields of education, culture, sport, youth and scientific research in the Francophone part of the country.
Valérie Lescrenier has been made a minister in both the French Community and Wallonia. She will be Walloon Minister for Tourism, Heritage, Infrastructure and Early Childhood, and French Community Minister for Early Childhood, Youth and Youth Aid.
Benoit Dispa will be President of the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, while Mathilde Vandorpe will replace him as leader of the Engagés group in the same parliament.
In the Walloon Government, Les Engagés have appointed former parliamentary group leader François Desquennes becomes a minister, as does Yves Coppieters, who becomes Minister for Health and Social Action.
Jean-Paul Bastin (Malmédy) replaces François Desquennes as leader of the Les Engagés group in the Walloon Parliament.
Who is the new Minister-President?
Born in Uccle in 1980, Degryse holds a degree in political sciences from UCLouvain and and exemplifies the strong connection between the Christian Mutualities and the former Christian Democratic Party, now known as Les Engagés.
The Engagés were already familiar with Degryse when, in September 2023, Maxime Prévot announced she would be the Brussels head on his party list for the Chamber.
Prior to this, she served as a colleague of Brussels’ representative Denis Grimberghs and subsequently became the Deputy Chief of Staff to Joëlle Milquet, the Vice Prime Minister responsible for Employment in the Leterme government, in December 2008.
In 2011, she transitioned to insurance provider Christian Mutualities where she spent the majority of her career. She was promoted to National Secretary in 2015, replacing Alda Greoli who was appointed Chief of Staff to Maxime Prévot and later ascended to Minister in 2017.
In 2019, she was named Vice-President of the Christian Mutualities, succeeding Jean Hermesse, a key figure in the institution’s history and an ally of cdH (one of Les Engagés former iterarations), having managed the party’s research centre.
