Speaker of the Flemish Parliament

Jan Peumans, speaker 2009–2019

The speaker of the Flemish Parliament (Dutch: Voorzitter van het Vlaams Parlement) is the presiding member of the Flemish Parliament, which is the legislature of Flanders (Belgium). The speaker is elected at the beginning of each parliamentary year, on the fourth Monday in September. The speaker chairs the plenary sessions of the Flemish Parliament and acts as its official representative. The speaker determines whether a certain initiative is admissible and thus can be put to parliament at all. The Flemish ministers take the oath before the Speaker of the Flemish Parliament. Only the head of the Flemish government, the minister-president of Flanders, takes the oath before the King. The speaker also presides over the Bureau and the Extended Bureau of the Flemish Parliament and is assisted by four deputy speakers.


List of speakers of the Flemish Parliament

No. Name Entered office Left office Legislative term(s) Party
Cultural Council for the Dutch Cultural Community (Cultuurraad voor de Nederlandse Cultuurgemeenschap)
1. Robert Vandekerckhove 7 December 1971 9 May 1974 Christian People's Party (CVP)
2. Jan Bascour 9 May 1974 14 June 1977 Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)
3. Maurits Coppieters 14 June 1977 24 April 1979 People's Union (VU)
Flemish Council (Vlaamse Raad)
4. Rik Boel 24 April 1979 22 December 1981 Belgian Socialist Party (BSP) / Socialist Party (SP)
5. Jean Pede 22 December 1981 3 December 1985 Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)
6. Frans Grootjans 3 December 1985 13 December 1987 Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)
7. Jean Pede 2 February 1988 18 October 1988 Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)
8. Louis Vanvelthoven 18 October 1988 13 January 1994 Socialist Party (SP)
9. Eddy Baldewijns 13 January 1994 13 June 1995 Socialist Party (SP)
Flemish Parliament (Vlaams Parlement)
10. Norbert De Batselier 13 June 1995 12 July 2006 1995–1999
1999–2004
2004–2009 (partial)
Socialist Party – Different (sp.a)
11. Marleen Vanderpoorten 13 July 2006 13 July 2009 2004–2009 (partial) Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD)
12. Jan Peumans 13 July 2009 26 May 2019 2009–2014
2014–2019
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)
13. Kris Van Dijck 18 June 2019 11 July 2019 2019–2024 New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)
14. Wilfried Vandaele 13 July 2019 2 October 2019 2019–2024 New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)
15. Liesbeth Homans 2 October 2019 incumbent 2019–2024 New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)

See also

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