The first studio guest of the new year, MP Kartheiser used the opportunity to discuss the ADR’s ambitions for 2023. Although he acknowledged that the tone in debates tends to be sharper in an election year, he promised that his party will focus on political matters as long as others do the same.
This comment came as a reaction to an incident in the Chamber of Deputies during which his party colleague MP Fred Keup called Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot a “moron” after the latter labelled the ADR as “right-wing extremist”. MP Kartheiser explained that matters got heated at the time and therefore drew an emotional response.
The politician continued that the Chamber is often a place of tough exchanges, which is particularly the case when microphones are switched off. MP Kartheiser believes that it is the responsibility of Chamber president Fernand Etgen to reprimand anyone who launches insults, and not just members of the ADR. He thinks that labelling his party as right-wing extremist overstepped the boundaries, which he said anyone with common sense would understand.
Some political scientists believe that the ADR can be labelled right-wing extremist for consciously testing the limits of what can be said. According to MP Kartheiser, most parties in the country portray themselves as either “left” or “centre left”, even the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV). He argued however that there is a lot of room between centre left and right-wing extremism.
The politician elaborated that he sees the ADR as conservative with a strong commitment to social matters, which at best makes them centre right with no radical elements. Kartheiser further stated that with the exception of the ADR and Joé Thein and his entourage, all others label themselves as left.
When asked about ADR performances in the most recent political survey, which projected that the party will lose its advantage of three seats from November 2021, MP Kartheiser shared his belief that polls tend to oversimplify political issues.
He emphasised that the ADR recently put in a lot of effort to position themselves with their agenda. He said that the party has many new ideas that they plan on implementing, which he thinks is what matters the most.
MP Kartheiser also noted that he is curious to see which coalitions might be able to rectify what he considers political mistakes. He concluded the interview by sharing his optimism for the election year, but remained unwilling to share concrete expectations for the ADR’s results.
