Commission délibérative : le parlement wallon innove face à la crise démocratique

Le 24 février 2024 s’est achevée la première Commission délibérative au Parlement de Wallonie. Depuis octobre 2023, 10 députés et 30 citoyens tirés au sort ont planché sur l’épineux sujet de la crise démocratique. Leurs propositions, publiées en mars 2024, pourraient bien constituer une petite révolution.

Le dernier baromètre de l’Iweps annonçait un sombre tableau : une chute de 30% de la confiance des citoyens wallons vis-à-vis des institutions. Le signal envoyé au coup d’envoi de la première Commission délibérative wallonne est pourtant à l’exact opposé : plus de 12% des citoyens sollicités pour participer ont répondu favorablement. C’est plus que l’écrasante majorité des autres initiatives. La Convention citoyenne pour le climat en France atteignait par exemple péniblement les 4%. 

L’exception wallonne ne s’arrête pas là. Une fois entrés dans le processus, seulement un citoyen a quitté l’aventure. Une implication remarquable au regard de l’investissement attendu. “En tant que politologue qui d’habitude étudie le désintérêt et le conflit, je vois en repartant d’ici qu’il y a encore des preuves du contraire, des preuves d’intérêt des citoyens et de recherche du consensus” témoignait ainsi l’universitaire Christoph Niessen lors de son audition par les participants de la Commission délibérative. Si les citoyens sont effectivement désabusés politiquement, ils n’en désirent pas moins être mieux associés. D’après l’étude “Les Belges haussent leur voix” plus de deux citoyens sur trois se disent favorables à des réformes pour mieux impliquer la population dans les décisions

Citizen participation is a valuable tool in the face of polarising opinions and the erosion of the legitimacy of representatives. However, it is a double-edged sword. Last May, Le Soir ran the headline « Citizen participation in Belgium: a damning report ». Experts were sounding the alarm: the recommendations produced by citizens were given little or no consideration by elected representatives. As a result, participation is producing more and more disappointed citizens, which is the opposite of the expected effect.

One way of harnessing the potential of participatory democracy without falling foul of its shortcomings is to strengthen the link between participation and political institutions. Belgium has been a pioneer in this field, with two internationally acclaimed models, each with a different strategy: on the one hand, the Deliberative Committees in the Brussels region invite elected representatives to co-construct with citizens, making it easier for them to take ownership of the recommendations produced and ultimately to implement them. On the other hand, the German-speaking community has set up a permanent citizens’ council to monitor the recommendations over time.

In January 2024, when the House of Representatives adopted the possibility of organising deliberative Committees, the writer David Van Reybrouck, who is involved in these issues, commented: « one-off panels are fine, but a permanent citizens’ council, as in the German-speaking Community, is even better ». We dreamt of it, the Walloon Deliberative Committee did it! The Walloon participants are proposing a permanent council inspired by the German-speaking model, but with a Brussels-style mix of elected representatives and citizens.

This first recommendation is accompanied by some thirty proposals that provide strong responses to the challenges of participation. These include lowering the signature threshold to make it easier to trigger Popular Consultations. These are an effective tool for involving the population at large, but are virtually unused because of the dissuasive conditions for triggering them. The Walloon participants also proposed allowing a graduated or « preferendum » vote during Popular Consultations, which would provide more nuance than a simple yes/no vote. Finally, this Deliberative Committee invites consideration of opening up the referendum to the regional level, with a desire to stimulate debate on this subject, despite its unconstitutionality.

Although the recommendations produced by this Deliberative Committee do not have the force of law, the quality of the involvement of the MPs alongside the citizens gives reason to hope for a positive outcome. « I want you to know that, wherever we are after these elections, we will be the guardians of the recommendations that we have all approved here », concluded the Chair of the Deliberative Committee, Marie-Martine Schyns, at the last meeting.

If adopted, these ambitious recommendations would position the Walloon Parliament at the centre of a new wave of democratic innovation, effectively reconciling citizens and representatives.