© Luc Rollmann / RTL
The Democratic Party (DP) on Saturday unveiled their campaign promises for the the parliamentary elections, focusing most notably on the issues of housing and childcare services, at a congress held in Roodt-sur-Syre.
Although DP members showed themselves satisfied with their recent election results, the municipal campaigns are over and the parliamentary one is about to begin.
The DP won 26 additional mandates across the Grand Duchy in the recent municipal elections. "And we want to keep on carrying responsibility for the next five years", said Carole Hartmann, DP secretary general and newly elected Mayor of Echternach, at the party's congress on Saturday.
The momentum gained from these results should be carried over into the parliamentary elections on 8 October, she further noted.
"Close to the people", the slogan already used in the run-up to the municipal elections, will once again be rolled out as of September. The DP's candidate lists for the four electoral districts will be published on 15 July.
Nevertheless, Saturday's congress already provided a little insight into the issues that the party's campaign seeks to tackle.
Top priority: housing
Topping the list of priorities for the DP is housing. The country's ability to grow depends on whether or not enough accommodations will be built in the coming years, stressed party president Lex Delles at the congress.
His statement was met with applause from his party colleagues. Delles continued by saying that Luxembourg needs a construction offensive - short-term, but also oriented towards the long-term future.
This blue offensive aims at promoting affordable housing, targeted measures for home ownership, and the 'rent-buy' concept, by which rent is later factored in during a purchase.
The government should further acquire private projects with no buyers, explained Delles: "The DP will also immediately start construction on publicly owned real estate. We can no longer afford to leave land unused. The construction sector is looking for employment at present and the state is looking for housing."
A "national citizens' fund" should be created as a means of financing these initiatives. After the elections, the DP plans on re-adjusting the eligibility criteria for housing support to include more people.
Furthermore, the party wants to abolish registration fees for people's first homes and simplify the municipal procedures associated with building projects.
In an even bolder move, the DP proposes to introduce a measure labelled "silence equals agreement", which would allow administrative procedures to be skipped if and when they fail to respect deadlines and halt construction.
As for environmental tests and compensation measures, those should become much more efficient, underlined Delles.
Immediate tax relief not part of the plan
If they are part of the next administration, the DP intends to regularly adjust the tax table to inflation. Although there are no immediate plans to introduce a single taxpayer class, party officials made clear that the measure is not off the table.
During his speech, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel addressed one of the campaign promises made by the Christian Social People's Party (CSV). The largest faction in the opposition wants to immediately introduce tax reliefs, which Bettel deemed unrealistic:
"Everyone must pay fewer taxes, but we have to stick with the 30% [threshold for the state debt], and we will compensate that with growth. I can only tell you, this party will not be for quantity growth, but quality growth for Luxembourg ... No tax reduction by credit!"
Bold ideas for childcare services
A major DP campaign promise is to guarantee that every single child has access to care. At present, many nurseries in Luxembourg are full and waiting lists long.
Despite further expanding childcare services, the party also wants to create measures that allow families to spend more time together. Delles explained: "We will also introduce a right to part-time work for parents of children below the age of 13 without engendering pension losses. We seek to open a dialogue with social partners on expanding parental leave by up to three months."
The DP also plans on extending paternal leave from ten to 15 days.
When it comes to healthcare, the party intends to continue decentralising medical institutions over the coming years and strengthen the more isolated parts of the country.
As for energy measures, the DP wants to particularly promote photovoltaic installations on the roofs of major buildings.
