Pirate Party MP and spokesperson Sven Clement said Frieden’s presentation on the government programme was akin to “a cloudless blue sky, and apparently the fears that were present during the coalition negotiations have disintegrated into the air.” Despite much talk of money and the government’s spending plans, there was little detail on where that money would hail from, he added.
The Greens’ Sam Tanson also raised concerns over the new government’s financial policies. “We fear the CSV-DP coalition will cost citizens dearly,” she said, describing the government as making unhedged bets on the future of the country. By lowering taxes, especially for those who already have wealth, the government is betting that this will generate enough tax revenue for state projects. It was not specified what the financing of the tax cuts will look like.
Marc Baum, MP for Déi Lénk (the Left), said the speech “lacked inspiration” and was merely a retelling of the coalition agreement, but could prove “explosive for social inequalities”. He described the government as trying to defuse the housing crisis with measures that have consistently failed over the past two decades, relying solely on the private market. Baum said he did not think that lowering taxes on big profits and fortunes would be the right path.
The LSAP, represented by parliamentary group leader Taina Bofferding, said the government was “taking old recipes out of the drawer to solve current issues”. The plans to extend the building area for new construction could be potentially harmful to biodiversity, while the reintroduction of accelerated depreciation has raised eyebrows, as the practice was abolished years ago due to its ineffectiveness, Bofferding added. The party fears the gap between the rich and the poor will expand further due to the adaptation of the tax scale.
ADR faction president Fred Keup described Frieden’s presentation as a “Sunday speech”, eloquent and yet merely consisting of words, when actions count more. He said the new government appeared to lack confidence in its own autonomy, pursuing many policies introduced by the previous coalition government. In terms of climate policy, he claimed the Green Party’s measures were still continuing, despite the party being sanctioned by voters.
Tanson commented that it was unfortunate that the government was persisting with a narrative of using nature protection against housing, as this would not convert citizens to the environmental cause if nature was used as a point of blame. Baum said the government was deploying retrograde policies in terms of climate protection and added that they could not solely rely on the private market to tackle climate change.
Although Clement praised the discussion of digitalisation and simplification of administrative procedures, he questioned Stéphanie Obertin’s credentials following her appointment to the role of minister, saying she had not discussed the matter in public before.
