Shortly before lunchtime on Thursday, members of the municipal council in Wiltz voted against the budget for this year and the next, as councillors Tina Weber and Maurice Muller of the Democratic Party (DP) joined forces with the six members of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) to obtain a majority vote. As expected, the four CSV councillors around Mayor Carole Weigel and DP Alderman Amel Cosic voted in favour of the budget.
It is now likely that there will be a vote of no confidence against the aldermen on the council. The LSAP and the DP have made it clear they plan to create a coalition. It has not been officially announced who will take over from Weigel as mayor, but all signs point to the LSAP’s Patrick Comes being the most likely candidate.
Comes ran as a CSV candidate in the local elections,but left the party shortly afterwards and joined the LSAP several weeks ago.
LSAP councillor Michael Schenk, who received the most votes of his party, has already announced he will not be available for the role of mayor due to work reasons but is prepared to serve as an alderman. Amel Cosic announced some time ago that he planned to step down from the council in the near future. Fons Arend will replace him on the council. It is not yet known who will replace him as alderman for the DP, but based on election results it could be Maurice Muller.
Link: official statement on the budget vote (GER)
