The Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) parliamentary group is facing some internal tension: Liz Braz was scheduled to represent the party in the Chamber on Tuesday to discuss the European asylum and migration pact, but withdrew at short notice and was replaced by Dan Biancalana. Braz was also absent from the parliamentary plenary session, citing substantive disagreements as the reason.
Just days prior, she had presented her parliamentary group’s amendments to Bill 8684 to the Interior Committee. She indicated that she would reintroduce the amendments the following day in the Chamber’s plenary session. However, someone else ultimately submitted the amendments, a move that did not go unnoticed by Interior Minister Léon Gloden.
During the debate, Gloden said he was surprised that Dan Biancalana was speaking on behalf of the LSAP rather than Liz Braz, who had previously been the party's spokesperson on the issue. His comments suggested possible tensions within the party.
Gloden claimed that Braz had initially indicated her support for the bill but had reportedly changed her position during an earlier party group meeting that morning. He speculated that this U-turn was probably why she was absent from the chamber and had been replaced as the LSAP's speaker during the debate.
Liz Braz says that she has worked intensively on this issue in recent months and is convinced that a common European approach to asylum policy is the right way forward. This has always been the position of the LSAP, but the party is extremely concerned by the specifics of Léon Gloden's proposed implementation.
Explaining her decision, Braz said that shortly before the plenary session, the LSAP parliamentary group had adopted a different position to the one it had initially intended to take. She said that the group had been unable to reconcile the range of views expressed internally and that she could not fully support the stance it had ultimately settled on.
The LSAP MP stressed that she did not oppose the European framework on asylum and migration. She maintained that asylum and migration policy should continue to be regulated at a European level, and argued that the project was still necessary and important. Faced with the choice of opposing her parliamentary group or remaining true to her convictions, she believed that abstaining was the most appropriate course of action.
In a separate written statement, Taina Bofferding, leader of the LSAP parliamentary group, said that following a joint analysis and discussion within the group, members had decided to vote against the bill. She confirmed that the decision was unanimous, with the exception of Braz.
Behind the scenes, however, opinions differed. Sources suggested that around half of the parliamentary group could have been prepared to abstain from the legislation.
In response to rumours that she might leave the LSAP to join the CSV (Christian Social People’s Party) or DP (Democratic Party), Liz Braz firmly denied having any such intentions, and affirmed that she feels fully at home within her party.
She believes that she largely shares the party’s position on the current issue, and her only criticism is about how internal discussions were handled the previous day, which she described as suboptimal.
