In a presentation held in Esch-sur-Alzette on Thursday, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) revealed key elements of its election platform, united under the banner 'Zesummen' ('Together').
The LSAP has placed the housing crisis, combating inequality, and addressing climate change at the forefront of its campaign.
Central to the LSAP's agenda is a proposal to place a quarter of all rental housing under public ownership within a 15-year timeframe. The party believes that this ambitious goal will not only help stabilise housing prices but also ensure access to affordable housing for all.
Minister for Home Affairs and co-lead candidate in the South constituency, Taina Bofferding, emphasised the need to build upon the Housing Pact 2.0, stating, "one very clear demand that we as the LSAP have is that 25% of the rental market should be in public hands, meaning both the State and the municipalities, and that should be done within the next few years. And why do we want this? Quite simply because it will allow us to influence prices, stabilising them while also ensuring that people have access to affordable housing."
Addressing foreign policy, the LSAP reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and identified challenges in migration, relations with Africa, and the critical issue of climate change. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn, another LSAP front-runner in the South constituency, stressed the importance of unwavering commitment to climate action: "We must aim for carbon neutrality by the target year, 2050 with intermediate steps in 2030, 2035. If you look where the threats against climate change policy actually come from at the moment, no matter where you are in the world, it's very often - and I could tell you a thing or two about this - from far-right politicians."
The LSAP's election programme seeks to address the growing inequalities that have emerged in recent years, according to Minister of Health and LSAP national lead candidate, Paulette Lenert. She underscored that her party, which has been in power since 2004, is not the one to blame for these disparities:
"We have crises that we have to face up to, we have climate change that is imminent, that we have to fight against, all of this means that the pressure on society as a whole is increasing, meaning there is obviously a risk that some people will be further left behind. And I firmly believe that if the LSAP hadn't been in government, this situation would have been even worse than it is now," Lenert said.
Lenert highlighted her party's efforts during the last tripartite meeting as evidence of their commitment to addressing pressing issues.
The upcoming legislative elections on 8 October will mark the first time that the current Minister of Health stands as a candidate. Meanwhile, Jean Asselborn, a veteran of LSAP politics, will participate in his ninth legislative election, having first run as a candidate in 1984.
Full report by RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish)
