Luxembourgers go to the polls every five years to elect a new parliament made up of 60 MPs. After elections, parties then agree to form a majority government of 31 seats, often culminating in a coalition. The Prime Minister is usually chosen by the governing party with the most votes.
Some countries around the world take a different approach by having citizens directly elect their leader, who then forms a government. This begs the question: would such an approach be feasible for the Grand Duchy? The possibility has, in fact, been floated around in recent times.
Read also: Two- or three-party coalitions possible in new governmentTo find out how Luxembourg’s parties position themselves on the issue, our colleagues from RTL posed the following question to those in the race: should the government, and the head of government, be directly elected by the people?
The following parties are clearly against direct election of the head of government: the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), the Democratic Party (DP), the Greens, the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR), the Left, and the Luxembourg Communist Party (KPL).
Those open to discussing the issue are the Pirate Party and Volt.
Fokus is the only party in favour of directly electing the head of government.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are the only party to support the direct election of government positions.
LSAP: “No, the LSAP is not in favour of the government or the head of government being directly elected by the people.”
DP: “No.”
The Greens: “No. If the people directly elect the government or head of government, then we would have to strongly expand the responsibilities and rights of the government in relation to parliament (like in France), because it would give the same democratic legitimacy to the government (or at least to the head of government) that voters currently give to MPs and parliament.”
They continue, “Everything else would devalue the voice of the people. It would mean turning the political system that we’ve had since World Word II on its head with new power relations between parliament and the government. We stand behind the current parliamentary system in which elected representatives have the strongest political power, have the greatest monitoring agency in relation to the government, and have government coalitions that better guarantee that the best interests of as many population groups are represented by the government.”
CSV: “No. The CSV supports parliamentary democracy. However, elections have to account for voters’ desires. This means that the people do not directly, but rather indirectly, elect the government.”
The Left: “The Left pleads for the introduction of a republic in which government heads are elected by parliament.”
The ADR: “No, it would make it very complicated to form a government. The system that we currently have is an international standard and generally functions well.”
The Pirate Party: “The Pirates do not shy away from discussions on how to render our system more democratic in the future. Until then, we stick to the rules of the new constitution.”
Fokus: “Yes, the State Minister should be directly elected, mayors as well by the way. This gives the government a proper electoral legitimacy and it strengthens the separation of powers and the scope of action of the Chamber [of Deputies]. The same applies to the municipal level when it comes to directly electing mayors.”
Volt: “Volt supports a more direct democracy in principle. To strengthen citizens here in the country, it is important in our eyes that they are able to more directly decide over who gets to take decisions. We do not shy away from the idea of directly electing the head of government, but we think it would be necessary to then reform the entire election system. With our current election system ... with electoral districts, such a direct election would not be possible, so we would have to create an entirely new system. That is a big step and has to be thought through carefully.”
KPL: “No, the Chamber should do this.”
The Conservatives: “NO, as a party we stick to supporting our Grand Duke as head of state and our constitutional monarchy. We are the last Grand Duchy in the world and that gives us a special and unique reputation. Our crown, our Grand Duke, and our Grand Ducal family are closely tied into our culture, history, and constitution, as well as being a symbol for our identity, freedom, democracy, and historic fight against national socialism. The Grand Duke is simultaneously neutral and free of party affiliation, and that means the best representation for Luxembourg and its societal unity. We are therefore against a presidential republic as is being demanded by left parties who want to abolish our monarchy and once again want to put a politician into the highest seat. But YES, we are clearly in favour of a direct election and basic democratic designation of government and government posts. The political choice is in the hands of the people’s sovereign.”
