Big changes are afoot at Habscht municipal council, where the number of councillors will drop at the elections on 11 June.

The electoral system will change in the municipality of Habscht following the upcoming municipal elections, with the number of councillors dropping from 15 to 11.

The transition period negotiated during the merger of the municipalities of Hobscheid and Septfontaines back in 2018 will expire this year, resulting in the reduction of councillors. In 2014, residents of both communes gave their approval for the merger in two referendums, which came into effect on January 1, 2018. Serge Hoffmann, mayor of Habscht, expressed relief that the municipal council will be more manageable in the future.

"I have to say that a municipal council of 15, if I may say so as mayor, has been relatively large. This also makes working together, in terms of practical organisation, not always so easy. I think that for a municipality of our size, 11 councillors will be more practical."

The number of municipal councillors will decrease in four more merging municipalities, where the transition period is coming to an end. In the municipalities of Helperknapp, Parc Housen and Rouspert-Mompach, the number of councillors will drop from 13 to 11, and the Aerenzdallgemeng municipality will go down to 9 councillors from 11.

In Habscht, voting took place in two sections in 2017 across the old communes, with one using the majority system and the other the proportional system. This year, the sections will be abolished. Hoffmann said the majority system was more suitable for smaller municipalities:

"It would have been good to continue with the major election system, but the law prescribed a change. If you ask me what that threshold should be, I think that a threshold of 10,000 inhabitants would be more realistic to use a proportional system."

 As for the parties standing in the June election in Habscht, the DP has already presented its list of candidates, while the CSV will not be far behind. It remains to be seen whether the LSAP will enter the race. At present, the CSV has a comfortable majority with 11 councillors, the DP has two and the LSAP one seat. The four councillors elected in the Septfontaines section all joined the CSV faction. Currently only 14 seats on the council are occupied following the death of a councillor.