Mayor faces criticism after threatening opposition

On Friday 12 July, the municipal council voted on the appointment of a coordinator for the municipal pact. With a majority of votes, one person was retained. However, given the mayor's familiar links to the candidate, the mayor left the room during the vote.

Five days later, on 17 July, the opposition addressed the Minister of the Interior, as the person who was elected did not have the necessary qualifications stated in the advertisement.

She could present a bachelor's degree in the hotel industry with a specialisation in marketing and sales, but not the required bachelor's degree in social and educational sciences. Also, the fact that the person has a personal connection to the mayor and is supposed to work directly below him in the hierarchy was seen as a potential conflict of interest.

Just one day later, the Minister of the Interior Léon Gloden (CSV) canceled the nomination due the lacking necessary diploma. Nonetheless, the minister did not accept the argument of nepotism, considering the mayor had withdrawn from the vote.

The opposition does criticise that the mayor had probably been involved in the preliminary decision process in which a candidate is presented.

“It's always the case that the mayor is present with the officials concerned and conducts the interview,” explains the mayor's first deputy, Claude Lamberty (DP). He did find it important to mention that there was no conflict of interest.

The opposition (The Greens, Pirates, LSAP) then criticised that the process for filling a post is anything but transparent. They were given insights into which candidates had applied only after they had asked, but it remained unclear as to which ones had actually been invited. The municipal council therefore doesn't know whether the proposed candidate was actually the best suited.

According to the opposition, their suspicions were not unfounded: “The Minister of the Interior proved us right, and now there are consequences,” says Mathis Godefroid (Pirates).

As this was not the first time that such an affair had occurred, the opposition was ready to put this to bed, even if they didn't like it.

However, a message was sent to the Pirates representative, who addressed the Hesperange community and the press on 18 July. The Pirates representative stated that the mayor was threatening the opposition.

The mayor's message reportedly read the following:

"Your actions will have consequences, especially because you have violated municipal laws and the internal rules of procedure of the municipality! This will be interesting. (...) the rest will follow. The red line has been crossed."

An der Gemeng rumouert et. / © RTL-Archiv

"We've now had a series of scandals, which makes it all the more difficult because I don't really want to talk about such topics. We really do have more important things to do," emphasises Mathis Godefroid.

Marc Lies also allegedly threatened the Greens in the last legislative period, says Stephen De Ron, without going into further detail. The two politicians also recall the mayor's verbal derailments on Facebook in March, in which he drummed up anti-refugee sentiment.

They expect at least an apology from the mayor. However, he had already apologised back then and not much has been learned, De Ron regrets. Thus, he wonders whether Marc Lies is still worthy of the office. Together with Mathis Godefroi, he believes that the basis of trust for cooperation in the municipal council has been broken. They question how the council feels about the mayor, especially as the DP had previously been strongly in favour of transparency during the legislative period.

Claude Lamberty (DP) claims to not have been aware of any mistakes when voting for the candidate. After all, the mayor had left the room due to his acquaintance with the candidate. He also thought that a person with a general bachelor's degree was sought, as the Ministry of Family Affairs had stated. However, it seems the municipality had added the extra requirement of a degree in social and educational sciences, the necessity of which Lamberty questions.

Nonetheless, he accepts the decision of the Minister, and that would have concluded the matter for him. But then Marc Lies himself ensured a 'second round' by sending the above-mentioned message to the Pirates representative.

Claude Lamberty claims to have told the mayor that he would not stand behind such words or intimidation tactics. In his opinion, those affected should talk to each other. After all, he wants to work on implementing the coalition agreement.