Clement or Goergen, who is the real bully?

15 July 2024 was a day unlike any other for Luxembourg's Pirate Party: Ben Polidori, one of the party's three MPs at the time, announced his departure. His announcement came just minutes before the start of the Pirates' review lunch of their parliamentary group, and it caught newsrooms off guard.

Polidori, who was only elected to the Luxembourgish parliament in 2023, cited internal issues with the party's functioning and differences within the small parliamentary team as his reasons for leaving.

However, rather than Polidori's unexpected departure uniting the party, as one might expect, tensions began to brew between the two other Pirates MPs, Sven Clement and Marc Goergen. Goergen threw the first stone by claiming that Polidori left primarily due to problems with Clement and Clement's handling of the MALT translation app project to several newspapers.

Speaking to us here at RTL on 19 July, Goergen also made the astonishing assertion that co-party spokesperson Rebecca Lau had been on sick leave for some time because she could no longer work with Clement. He also added that most staff members preferred to work with him rather than Clement.

Any potential opponents are cut off from information 

Goergen's comments eventually compelled Clement to fire back. At a hastily organised press conference, he accused Goergen of creating a toxic work environment and of psychologically bullying people. Clement admitted that he regrets waiting this long to intervene.

Stunning accusations now have been flung from both sides of the camps, but who is telling the truth? Is the truth somewhere in the middle or are they both mistaken?

After RTL spoke with several current and former staff members, a consistent image of the situation emerged. The name repeatedly mentioned in connection with allegations of bullying is Goergen. Damning testimonies suggest that Goergen's approach to relationships was bleak: "For Marc Goergen, the world is black or white, either you're with him or against him." Once Goergen sees someone as an opponent, the approach was always said to be the same: instead of transparency and direct confrontation, people would be gradually cut off from important information.

Former party members recounted that this was essential information that people needed to be able to fulfil their jobs. If their work was not completed to the expected standards, then they would get criticised for it. Current party members shared similar experiences during the municipal elections, claiming they were sabotaged by being excluded from group chats. According to party member Marie-Marthe Muller, a councillor in Luxembourg City, at times, they did not receive campaign posters they had ordered, with Goergen telling local sections that the posters had never been ordered.

Were party members pressured to support Goergen?

The Pirates' Pétange section, where Goergen lives, fared better in recent elections than other sections. In the southern district, notably in Esch-sur-Alzette  and Differdange, municipal councillors Tammy Broers and Morgan Engel reportedly claimed that they have been effectively cut off.

Therefore, several eyebrows were raised after the name of Differdange municipal councillor Engel appeared on a statement defending Goergen against bullying accusations. However, RTL News has obtained information where Engel denies signing this statement.

She instead claims that she felt ostracised by other party members and that she had always been considered as the "black sheep" of the party. However, she denies ever being bullied by Goergen, stating that other individuals, who are no longer active in the party, were responsible.

In total, nine municipal councillors signed the statement in defence of Goergen. However, Broers claims that pressure was applied to get more people to sign the statement, with some even being threatened with expulsion from the party if they refused. After choosing to remain neutral, Broers received an ominous message from Goergen, stating: "You do know that Sven wants to get rid of you, right?"

Broers also stated that Goergen was upset that she was elected to the Esch-sur-Alzette municipal council and, from the start, received no support. At times, she claims that she was even deliberately misinformed.

Goergen fights back

Goegen strongly denies any of the accusations made against him. Concerning the allegations of cutting people off from essential information, Goergen does not recall this ever being the case with any staff members. He claims that this only occurred once upon the request of several affected people. He also claims to not have an overview nor control of all of the party's group chats.

Regarding the accusations from Esch, he stated that the party had offered Broers support, which she refused. He added that it is not possible to constantly help a municipal councillor from the outside and that there needs to be commitment from the other side too.

As for the election campaign in Luxembourg City, he explained that the local section wanted to run their own campaign and received all the posters they had requested. He does not know what happened to the posters after they had been delivered in the City.

Goergen also rejected the claim that he contributed to a negative atmosphere among candidates in the south of the country. Rather, he attributes these frustrations to the behaviour of lead candidates Marie-Marthe Muller and Pascal Clement, who, he claims, prompted members to reach out to the national leadership. This was at least partially corroborated by the spokesperson for the Luxembourg City section, Steve Fuchs.

Marc Goergen believes that these accusations do not amount to bullying. Similar sentiments were expressed by co-party spokesperson Starsky Flor. In the past, Goergen claims that he has faced similar accusations, often from those who did not perform well in elections. Therefore, he implied indirectly that he sees these accusations as a form of retaliation.

Video report in Luxembourgish