2023-10-08 03:58:00
Luxembourgers elect their deputies on Sunday, an uncertain vote for liberal Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, a familiar face at European summits for ten years, whose position is coveted by socialist Paulette Lenert, the rising star of politics in the Grand Duchy.
In this small EU state (660,000 inhabitants), Xavier Bettel has led since 2013 a team made up of three parties, liberal, socialist and environmentalist, which together occupy 31 of the 60 seats in the outgoing Chamber.
This 50-year-old liberal, close to Emmanuel Macron and already reappointed in 2018, is once again a candidate to succeed him.
Facing him, the Minister of Health Paulette Lenert, leader of the socialists, appears as the main challenger. She could become the first woman to lead the government.
But one of the unknowns of the election is whether the three partner parties in the current coalition will be able to maintain this majority, even short, against a backdrop of increasing fragmentation of the political landscape.
This year, twelve parties – including four novices, not represented in the outgoing assembly – are competing for the votes of some 284,000 registered voters.
And among these new ones, two small groups are competing with the sovereignists of the ADR (three deputies currently) for the right-wing populist vote.
“Where will the protest votes end up? At the ADR, increasingly extremist, or elsewhere? That’s one of the questions,” journalist Guy Weber, who covers the elections in the Grand Duchy, told AFP. for 35 years and speaks of “a suspenseful vote”.
He notes that to the increased offer on the right of the chessboard is added the good health of the Pirate party (which calls itself “neither left nor right”), to which some pollsters predict up to six seats , compared to two today.
Consequence: for the so-called government parties, the question is not who will gain the most votes but who will lose the least, summarizes political scientist Philippe Poirier.
“And the one who loses the most will be excluded, this could lead to a new type of coalition,” adds this professor of political science at the University of Luxembourg.
Growing inequalities
According to the latest Politmonitor poll (published at the beginning of September) the Socialist Party (LSAP) should escape this bad fate. He is credited with almost 20% of the votes, an increase compared to 2018, and could add several seats to his current ten.
“Winning two or three would be wonderful!” exclaims Paulette Lenert, whom AFP followed in the campaign.
This 55-year-old lawyer, appointed Minister of Health in February 2020, saw her notoriety soar thanks to the Covid-19 crisis, by explaining health restrictions in front of the cameras.
In the Grand Duchy, politics is historically dominated by the Christian Social Party (CSV, conservatives) of former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker (1995-2013), a formation excluded from power following an overthrow alliances ten years ago.
This same poll from early September credits the CSV with 28.3%, now led by former Minister of Finance Luc Frieden, 60, who intends to do well in the game.
With economic indicators better than the European average (growth, employment, median salary), Luxembourg, driven by its financial center, is privileged within the EU.
But experts point to the risk of widening inequalities, particularly in access to housing, one of the country’s glaring problems, where limited supply has led to a surge in prices.
On Sunday the polling stations will be accessible from 8:00 a.m. (06:00 GMT) to 2:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m.), and the results will be revealed in the evening as the counts take place in each of the four constituencies.
Deputies are elected proportionally, by constituency, but voters can both vote for lists and allocate preferential votes to one or more candidates.
At the end of the vote, a phase of negotiations between parties will begin. Coalition partners must agree on a program that will serve as their road map to govern for five years.
08/10/2023 03:55:38 – Luxembourg (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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