
As Volt champions a cohesive Europe and research-based policies, it contends with the lingering challenges of gaining recognition in the post-pandemic era.
According to vice party president Philippe Schannes, the first priority of Volt is to have Europe cooperate better and on a larger scale to form a counterpart to the US and China. The party also wants to strengthen and simplify civic engagement, as well as reinforce efforts to protect the climate. The processes of these issues should be based on scientific evidence, Schannes noted in conversation with RTL.
The pandemic is said to have been the main reason why things at Volt slowed down for some time. Schannes himself only assisted in one physical meeting before everything had to be moved to the digital space. He explained that the Covid crisis made it difficult for the party to increase its brand recognition.
And gaining visibility remains a difficult task, even now, he said. None of Volt's 26 candidates for the national election, of whom 23 are running in the south and three in the east, are well-known individuals. While not featuring any known political actors, the list is rather young.
Nine people are below the age of 30, 14 are in their thirties, and only three are older than 40. Many have an academic background, being either students or teachers. Schannes believes this has to do with Volt's policies, which he described as highly progressive and liberal.
The wider European Volt movement is generally fueled by a younger generation. According to Schannes, far-reaching events such as Brexit have notably ignited young people's interest in politics and the desire for a stronger Europe.
The most well-known member of Volt Luxembourg's campaign during the last European elections was Rolf Zarrach, former director of the University of Luxembourg. At the time the only candidate with political experience was Christopher Lilyblad, who had switched to Volt from the Christian Social People's Party (CSV).
After the European elections, in which Volt received 26,500 votes (2.11%), only two of the six candidates remained with the party: Fiona Godfrey, chair of 'British in Europe', and Daniel Silva, Volt secretary general. Schannes provided insights into this dilemma: "Two of the candidates for the European elections no longer live in Luxembourg. They were relatively young and went to work abroad."
Today Volt Luxembourg has over 60 members. Thanks to its pan-European outlook, the party has many foreigners in its ranks, underlined Schannes. He elaborated that although these French, Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese nationals are not eligible to run in the parliamentary elections later this year, they have contributed to the campaign manifesto.
Schannes bemoaned that there were not enough people to file complete candidate lists. Many of the potential candidates only joined the party over the course of the past six to seven months. Volt had hoped to advertise its platform by publishing their campaign manifesto early on, putting it out on 9 May. Unfortunately there was not enough media attention, said Schannes.
Since none of their candidates are well-known, Volt has decided against naming lead candidates. They also opted to first list their female candidates as there are more men running (ten versus 13).
Co-party presidents are Michel Conter and Aurélie Dap, the latter of whom cannot run as she lives in France.