In the Grand-Duchy there is currently no legitimate authority to represent the local interests of municipalities on a bigger, more national level. So far, the only way for local interests to be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies is if an MP is also active in a municipality council. But this is not the case in every commune. And as political work is getting more and more complex, should these dual mandates be done away with?
Germany, France, and Belgium - and indeed most democracies in the world - have a second chamber where local representatives are an integral part of the legislative process. Could this be an option for the Grand Duchy? Or does a small country like Luxembourg not need a second legislative authority?
Kim Nommesch, from the Centre for Political Edeucation, commented:
“At the moment a few politicians have dual mandates in Luxembourg, but these have been controversial, and some say they should be done away with.
“However a positive of these dual mandates is that, this way local interests can be discussed on a national level. It is however not a nationwide solution, and is only applicable in some cases. A second chamber of the parliament would solve this issue.
“But the question remains if this would be necessary for a small country like Luxembourg? New elections would need to be held, and one would need to find candidates that would want to take on such a role.”
The Pirate Party would be willing to implement a second parliament chamber.
The Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party (LSAP) and the Democratic Party (DP) would be willing to discuss the implementation of a second parliament chamber.
The Green Party and the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) think that Luxembourg would benefit from having local interests represented on a more national level, but they do not think that a second parliament chamber is the way to go about that.
Finally the Left party, Focus, Volt, the Communist Party, the Conservative Party and the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) do not think that Luxembourg needs a second authority to represent local interests on a national level.
