What are the main differences between incumbent Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and his challenger from the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), Luc Frieden? Where do both stand on issues like education, healthcare, or taxation? And who would be the better leader of Luxembourg?
The political opponents discussed their stances as they went head-to-head in a debate on RTL on Wednesday evening.
PM Bettel expressed his commitment to being a team player while Frieden spoke of his more direct leadership style should he become the new Prime Minister after the October election. Frieden, the CSV lead candidate, acknowledged that he would not shy away from leveraging his office to crack down on issues should the need arise.
“I do think that if push comes to shove, a PM sometimes has to take a hard line on issues such as housing, healthcare, and taxes,” said Frieden.
Frieden also acknowledged the team aspect of leading a government. “Naturally, a government is also about teamwork, and I have already been part of several administrations. Similarly, the companies that I have been a part of work as teams, but sometimes you have to advance things more quickly, and with economic issues of the past it took too long to get a yes or a no.”
In recent weeks, PM Bettel has often said that the coalition (initially labelled ‘The Gambia Coalition’) between his Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), and The Greens would not automatically carry on, even if the coalition members achieved the necessary vote tally.
This opens the theoretical possibility of a coalition between DP and CSV, to which Bettel stated that the political overlap between the two parties is context dependent. “For example, when it comes to taxation policies, we have the same goals. We have to do something on the competition front, something for businesses, but also for the people.”
The PM also noted that there are fundamental differences between the two parties. “What differentiates us is the method of immediately making promises that we cannot keep. In terms of labour policies, we are closer to the CSV. But, there are also differences, like family policies. Mr Frieden might not like to hear it, but the new Luc is still part of the old CSV.”
The debate then moved on to a discussion of tax policy. Should Bettel stay in office, he stated that he would call a new tripartite meeting to discuss potential measures before the end of the year. This presented another area of disagreement between the two candidates for Luxembourg’s top office, as Frieden expressed the view that tripartite meetings are not necessary as they are crisis tool and thus not required in the current situation, as taxes always represent a political issue.
