Fokus, a centrist political party founded in 2022 and currently not represented in the Chamber of Deputies, has taken aim at both the government and opposition in its latest political assessment. Marc Ruppert, president of Fokus, described opposition politicians as largely ineffective and portrayed his party as the biggest and only relevant opposition force outside parliament.
His criticism of the governing majority was even harsher. In Ruppert's view, MPs had become little more than servants of their respective party headquarters, while parliament itself had grown weak.
As he put it, "the heart of democracy is in intensive care".
Ruppert argued that parliament should be pushing back much more forcefully against delays to major political decisions, particularly the postponement of key pension debates until after the elections. He questioned the very purpose of parliament if it failed to tackle urgent issues when they arose, stressing that the pension debate was one such issue which "must be addressed".
Housing policy, he said, was another example of political inaction, with minor adjustments being presented as major solutions. Ruppert argued that MPs should be doing far more to tackle what has been one of Luxembourg voters' greatest concerns for years.
In his words, they should "lock themselves inside the Chamber" and refuse to come out until they had found real solutions.
According to Ruppert, major problems are too often dealt with in small instalments or simply postponed and left for the next government – like climate policy, for example. During the recent heatwave, Fokus would have preferred a nationwide solution for pupils and teachers rather than leaving individual schools to make their own decisions.
The party also believes Luxembourg is insufficiently prepared for the possibility of a major forest fire. Ruppert said the country still lacked proper solutions for such a scenario and was not equipped to deal with a very large wildfire.
Luxembourg does not have the aircraft that might be needed in such an emergency, he noted, nor has it carried out exercises involving their deployment.
One day, he warned, "a large forest will burn" and the country may find itself unprepared for a risk that has been foreseeable for years.
Fokus argues that constructive and dynamic parliamentary work should look very different from what is currently happening at the Chamber. In the party's view, current policymaking is negligent and short sighted, with parliament hiding behind the government and the government doing the same in return.
Fokus vice president Luc Majerus argued that politics should instead anticipate the problems that may become acute in ten or twenty years. The current government, however, was little more than a first aid kit, he said, while elected representatives acted like nurses or firefighters responding only once a problem had already emerged.
Majerus illustrated his point by describing politics as a series of immediate reactions. "When something burns, it is cooled. When something hurts, a plaster is applied. And when matters become complicated, politicians hesitate", he said.
In his view, politics has become too reactive, with politicians driven by current events and the next electoral opportunity rather than by long term planning.
He also criticised the influence of major media outlets, arguing that they too often set the direction of political debate. Instead of continuing their work calmly and thoughtfully, he said, some politicians simply "jump on every bandwagon that comes along".
Fokus nevertheless acknowledged that there are occasional exceptions in which parliament develops a momentum of its own and majorities emerge that push the government into action. One example cited by the party was the constitutional amendment initiated by The Left (déi Lénk), which enshrined freedom of abortion in Luxembourg's Constitution.
