The elections in Luxembourg on October 8 seem to have brought a return to power for the centrist Christian Democrats – marked by the spectacular collapse of the Greens party.
After the vote, the Liberal-led coalition in Luxembourg lost its majority, ushering in the likely return of the Christian Democrat CSV party, which has been led for almost two decades by former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Conversely, it means the end of the progressive government of Liberals, Socialists and Greens under Xavier Bettel, who has been in power since 2013.
The most spectacular loss was for the Greens, especially in light of the other coalition partners making electoral gains.
Losing almost half its votes and more than half of its seats, falling from nine to four, the Greens party is the main reason the progressive government looks unlikely to be able to continue.
To make matters worse for the Greens, even the right-wing ADR party overtook it to become the fourth-biggest party in Luxembourg, with five seats and just shy of 10 per cent of the vote.
Overall, the government lost two seats in Luxembourg’s Parliament, giving it 29 out of a total of 60 seats.
As in 2018, the centre-right CSV emerged as the largest party with 29 per cent of the vote, gaining about one percentage point.
The CSV now has 21 members in parliament as a result of the elections.
“The citizens of Luxembourg have spoken. We have been given a clear mandate to lead the next government. The majority behind the blue, red and green no longer exists,” current CSV leader and former finance minister Luc Frieden told AFP.
Bettel expressed satisfaction at the outcome for his own party, which now has 14 MPs. “The voters have given us a mandate to continue to be responsible in this country,” he told reporters.
Paulette Lenert, the leader of the Social Democratic party LSAP, said the party is still in the running to create a new government. Following the elections, the LSAP will have 11 seats in parliament.
On October 9, talks to form a new government begin.
