CD&V holds the two most important political positions in Flanders: that of minister-president (Kris Peeters) and that of prime minister (Yves Leterme, caretaker for longer than he had hoped for). It is, of course, the successor of CVP, the most important political factor in Flemish politics since the Second World War. As a “people’s party”, CVP united the establishment, employers, workers and farmers.

All of that ended in 1999, when electoral defeat brought a new type of coalition. Liberals and socialists formed the so-called “purple government” without the CVP, their mutual aversion for this traditional party acting as a binding agent.

Being in opposition felt unnatural to the Christian-democrats, and their reaction was one of impotence. Christian-democracy in Flanders was compared to a melting ice floe: doomed to disappear.

It was up to Stefaan De Clerck, current federal minister for justice, to revive the old party. His relentless work and wordy style were ridiculed, from the outside as well as in. We are not going to name our party after a dog, one prominent member said, after “Fides” was suggested as a new name. In the end, it became CD&V, which stands for Christian Democrat & Vlaams.

CD&V took until 2004 to catch on. By then the purple magic had worn off, and CD&V had forged a strategic alliance with N-VA, a struggling faction hanging on for dear life. The “cartel” worked: by 2004, CD&V was back in power, with Yves Leterme at the head of the Flemish government.

For a while, Leterme became Flanders’ new Messiah: He stood for a less frivolous style, promising “good governance” and an agreement on state reform. As prime minister, though, he fell from grace, failing to deliver on both promises. N-VA, the cuckoo CD&V raised, flew out and replaced the Christian-democrats as the force to be reckoned with.

So where does that leave CD&V? Its future is more uncertain than that of the old CVP ever was, but – as the many who flock to Kortrijk will demonstrate – the ice has far from melted yet. And if a new federal government ever sees the light, this 10-year-old will definitely be in it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmImVCPI_FY