Accusations of internal betrayal and a top-down leadership style have shattered the ruling coalition in Wiltz, paving the way for an unexpected DP-LSAP partnership to form the next majority.

The reigning majority coalition between the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) and the Democratic Party (DP) in Wiltz is on the brink of collapse.

Last week, the Democratic Party (DP) and the opposition Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) jointly announced their intention to form a new coalition. The CSV has expressed its disappointment and has not held back criticism of its soon-to-be-former partner.

In a statement, the CSV said it had been prepared to continue the coalition's work. The party claimed that while its collaboration with DP Municipal Executive Board Member Amel Cosic had been positive, the same was not true for the other two DP councillors. The CSV accuses these councillors of repeatedly siding with the opposition and voting against their own executive board member.

The party speculates that this internal discord, alongside personal reasons, contributed to Cosic's decision to resign from the municipal executive board. Although he has already submitted his resignation, he will remain in office until the new coalition is formalised. RTL has confirmed that Cosic will also step down from the municipal council entirely at that time, with Alphonse Arendt expected to succeed him.

Despite these developments, outgoing CSV Mayor Carole Weigel expressed surprise at the new DP-LSAP alliance, noting that DP councillor Maurice Muller has publicly criticised the LSAP in the past.

Mayor Weigel stated that tensions were palpable "from the very beginning when Mr Arendt was still on the municipal council." She claimed he was "constantly being attacked," partly due to pending investigations with the public prosecutor's office concerning certain past affairs, which she declined to comment on as they predated her term.

Weigel also cited an incident where, after a dispute at a local football game, Muller described the local club's leadership as "bright red" – a remark widely interpreted as a criticism of the LSAP.

Meanwhile, Muller downplayed past disputes. "You know, in a functioning democracy, there are always differences of opinion. They exist in the municipal council, they exist in a committee, and they exist in daily life," he stated, adding that such disagreements are healthy: "You can discuss them, and sometimes the discussion is louder, sometimes quieter, but the important thing is that you get along afterwards." He insisted that his relationship with LSAP's Michel Schenk is positive and that they found common ground during their "constructive talks."

According to Muller, the coalition's breakdown was primarily due to the CSV's top-down approach in dealing with the DP and a lack of tangible progress on key projects, such as the renovation of the Kaul swimming pool.

For his part, LSAP group leader Michael Schenk clarified that his party was approached by the others. He confirmed that the CSV made the first offer, and the LSAP was open to a collaboration – a coalition that would have represented over 75% of the electorate. However, they failed to agree on the composition of the municipal executive.

"Our condition for working with the CSV was simple: that the three candidates with the most votes – Albert Waaijenberg, myself, and Patrick Comes – would form the municipal executive," Schenk explained. "But we couldn't find an agreement on that, and we couldn't go back on what we said over two years ago, that we didn't believe the composition of the executive was right. We stuck to our position, and so we failed to reach an agreement," he stated.

As Schenk is unavailable for the mayor's role for professional reasons, Patrick Comes is now the expected candidate for the position. Comes left the CSV shortly after the 2023 elections and only recently joined the LSAP. Under the proposed arrangement, Schenk would likely become the 1st executive board member and the DP's Maurice Muller the 2nd, though this has not yet been officially confirmed.

The new LSAP-DP majority is expected to be formally in place by the beginning of next year. The transition will be triggered by a vote on the municipal budget on 18 December, which is anticipated to be rejected by the new majority. This rejection will allow for a motion of censure to be tabled, formally ending the current CSV-DP coalition.

Incidentally, the internal coalition problems were deemed significant enough to be discussed at the highest political level. Outgoing Mayor Carole Weigel reported that a meeting was held in Luxembourg City, attended by CSV and DP ministers and members of parliament. The stated aim was to support the embattled DP executive board member, Amel Cosic. However, the meeting ultimately failed to produce the desired resolution.