
© RTL Archiv
On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies debated a draft constitution proposed by the Left Party ('Déi Lénk'), which included suggestions of replacing the monarchy with a republic, and allowing non-Luxembourgish nationals the right to vote.
MP Nathalie Oberweis argued that her party's draft constitution provides "answers to many of the current crises" and is "simply better" than the constitutional revision supported by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), the Green Party (déi Gréng), and the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), which will be voted on for the second time in the Chamber in the coming days.
Among other things, the Left Party's draft constitution includes several rights that could be enforced in court. The right to vote would start at 16 and would be extended to include all residents who have lived in Luxembourg for at least five years, regardless of nationality. The monarchy would be replaced by a republic, with a president elected by the Chamber of Deputies as head of state.
The representatives of all other parties sympathised with certain aspects of the Left Party's constitution and thanked the party for their work. The proposal to abolish the monarchy, on the other hand, was largely opposed by the other MPs. Some MPs were not outright against the idea, but they stressed that the choice should not be left solely to the Chamber of Deputies.
In the end, only the two MPs of the Left Party voted for their draft constitution. A two-thirds majority would have been required to amend the constitution.