Following allegations that the minister lashed out at a colleague, members of the Left say Meisch should step back from his roles in public life until the incident has been cleared up.
In a press release issued on Thursday afternoon, the Left say education and housing minister Claude Meisch should withdraw from the public sector in order to remove any possible pressure from the situation, until the incident has been resolved.
Meisch was accused of exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards a fellow ministry official in Luxembourg City eatery by a young female member of the DP. The young woman released a video in which she claimed Meisch had been violent towards his female companion, who also works for the Ministry of Education. Both Meisch and his companion have firmly denied the allegations. The young woman who made the accusation has since retracted her statement and said she wanted nothing else to do with the matter.
The Left say the education minister's explanations are problematic and unsatisfactory. Spokesperson Carol Thoma told RTL it was unacceptable for Meisch to argue in public with a high-ranking official, to the extent that the young witness called the police over the altercation. The opposition party says the whole affair goes beyond Meisch's right to privacy.
Thoma added that it was obvious that the ministry official is subordinate to Meisch, leading to an imbalance of power, which the party believes is an "abuse of power".
The Left has called for Meisch to withdraw from the public eye to exert less pressure on the individuals involved, and to give people the opportunity to express themselves and make it clear what happened. If the minister is found to have done nothing wrong, the matter would be cleared, says the opposition party. But as it stands, the Left say it feels as though pressure is being put on people to sweep the incident under the rug, adding that the handling of the situation is unclear.
Thoma said there were two options to proceed with the situation. The first would allow things to run as they have been, thus creating a precedent for ministers to treat their staff in this manner. The second option is to create a "positive precedent", with the minister behaving in an exemplary manner and allowing the problem to be clarified without undue pressure.
