Luxembourg general election, 2018

Last updated
Luxembourg general election, 2018
Flag of Luxembourg.svg
←  2013 14 October 2018
All 60 seats of the Chamber of Deputies.
31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout89.66%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Claude Wiseler arrival TK IST-LUX.jpg Tallinn Digital Summit. Handshake Xavier Bettel and Juri Ratas (36718144533) CROP BETTEL.jpg Informal meeting of justice and home affairs Handshake (Justice) Urmas Reinsalu and Etienne Schneider (34915138884) - crop Schneider.jpg
Leader Claude Wiseler Xavier Bettel Etienne Schneider
Party CSV DP LSAP
Last election23 seats, 33.66%13 seats, 18.27%13 seats, 20.28%
Seats won211210
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 3
Popular vote999,381597,080621,332
Percentage28.31%16.91%17.60%
SwingDecrease2.svg 5.35%Decrease2.svg 1.36%Decrease2.svg 2.68%
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Sven Clement LK2011.jpg
Leader Christian Kmiotek Jean Schoos Sven Clement
Party DG ADR Pirates
Last election6 seats, 10.13%3 seats, 6.64%0 seats, 2.94%
Seats won942
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 3Increase2.svg 1Increase2.svg 2
Popular vote533,893292,388227,549
Percentage15.12%8.28%6.45%
SwingIncrease2.svg 4.99%Increase2.svg 1.64%Increase2.svg 3.51%
 Seventh party
 
Leadercollective leadership
Party DL
Last election2 seats, 4.94%
Seats won2
Seat changeSteady2.svg 0
Popular vote193,594
Percentage5.48%
SwingIncrease2.svg 0.54%
Map of the Luxembourg general election, 2018.svg
A map of the results by each constituency
Prime Minister before election

Xavier Bettel
DP

Elected Prime Minister

TBD

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 14 October 2018. All 60 seats of the Chamber of Deputies were elected.

Luxembourg Grand duchy in western Europe

Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a small landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is one of the three official capitals of the European Union and the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU. Its culture, people, and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and German cultures, as evident by the nation's three official languages: French, German, and the national language, Luxembourgish. The repeated invasions by Germany, especially in World War II, resulted in the country's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and, among other things, led to the foundation of the European Union.

Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) parliament of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

The Chamber of Deputies, abbreviated to the Chamber, is the unicameral national legislature of Luxembourg. Krautmaart is sometimes used as a metonym for the Chamber, after the square on which the Hôtel de la Chambre is located.

Contents

The incumbent Bettel–Schneider Ministry was made up of a coalition of the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), and the Greens. The largest party in Parliament, the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), was in the opposition.

Democratic Party (Luxembourg) political party in Luxembourg

The Democratic Party, abbreviated to DP, is the major liberal political party in Luxembourg. One of the three major parties, the DP sits on the centre to centre-right, holding moderate market liberal views combined with a strong emphasis on civil liberties, human rights, and internationalism.

Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party political party in Luxembourg

The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party, abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic political party in Luxembourg. The LSAP is the second-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, having won 13 of 60 seats at the 2013 general election, and has one seat in the European Parliament. The LSAP is currently part of the Bettel–Schneider government, with Etienne Schneider of the LSAP serving as Deputy Prime Minister. Since March 2014, the party's President has been Claude Haagen.

Date

There was some debate about when the election ought to be held. Article 56 of the Constitution of Luxembourg defines that deputies are elected for a five-year term, which would mean holding an election by October 2018, five years after the 20 October 2013 snap election. However, article 123 of the Electoral Law of 2003 states that "In case of dissolution of the Chamber, the end of tenure dates for deputies elected after the dissolution, will occur in the year following the opening of the fifth ordinary session." Since the fifth ordinary session would be opened in late 2018, the election would need to be held in 2019, likely concurrent with the June 2019 European Parliament elections, exceeding the constitutional five-year term. The electoral law was thus seen as conflicting with the constitution, and the politicians intended to amend the law and hold general elections in October 2018. [1] [2] The law modification of 15 December 2017 removes June as month for regular parliamentary elections, and instead fixes the election date when the parliamentary term expires, i.e. five years after the previous election. [3] [4]

The Constitution of Luxembourg is the supreme law of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The modern constitution was adopted on 17 October 1868.

Electoral system

Map of Luxembourg's constituencies with number of seats Wahlbezirke-Luxemburg.png
Map of Luxembourg's constituencies with number of seats

The 60 members of the Chamber of Deputies will be elected by proportional representation in four multi-member constituencies; 9 in Nord constituency, 7 in Est, 23 in Sud and 21 in Centre. Voters can vote for a party list or cast multiple votes for as many candidates as there are seats. Seat allocation is calculated in accordance with the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota. [5]

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

Legislative circonscriptions (Luxembourg) Wikimedia list article

A legislative circonscription is a multi-member electoral constituency that elects representatives ('deputies') to Luxembourg's unicameral national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.

The Hagenbach-Bischoff quota is a formula used in some voting systems based on proportional representation (PR). It is used in some elections held under the largest remainder method of party-list proportional representation as well as in a variant of the D'Hondt method known as the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. The Hagenbach-Bischoff quota is named for its inventor, Swiss professor of physics and mathematics Eduard Hagenbach-Bischoff (1833–1910)

Only Luxembourg citizens may vote in general elections. A proposal to extend voting rights to foreigners who have lived in Luxembourg for at least 10 years and have previously voted in a European or local election in Luxembourg, was decisively rejected in a 2015 referendum. Voting is mandatory for eligible Luxembourg citizens who live in Luxembourg and are under 75 years of age. [6] Luxembourg citizens who live abroad may vote by post at the commune in which they most recently lived in Luxembourg. [7] Luxembourg citizens who were born in Luxembourg but have never lived there may vote by post at the commune in which they were born. [7] Luxembourg citizens who were not born in Luxembourg and have never lived there may vote by post at the commune of Luxembourg City. [7]

Luxembourgish nationality law

Luxembourgish nationality law is ruled by the Constitution of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a member state of the European Union and, therefore, its citizens are also EU citizens.

Compulsory voting requires citizens to register to vote and to go to their polling place or vote on election day

Compulsory voting is an effect of laws which require eligible citizens to register and vote in elections, and may impose penalties on those who fail to do so. As of August 2013, 22 countries provide for compulsory voting, and 11 democracies — about 5% of all United Nations members — enforce it.

Campaign

On 2 March 2018, the Alternative Democratic Reform Party announced an electoral alliance with the Wee 2050-Nee 2015 movement, which had formed itself as a citizen's movement fighting for the "3 x no" in the 2015 referendum. This agreement gives the movement up to eight slots on the ADR's lists. [8]

Alternative Democratic Reform Party political party in Luxembourg

The Alternative Democratic Reform Party, abbreviated to ADR, is a national-conservative political party in Luxembourg. It has four seats in the sixty-seat Chamber of Deputies, making it the fifth-largest party.

Opinion polls

Seat projections

DateSource CSV LSAP DP DG ADR DL KPL
Jun 2018 TNS 26910753
Dec 2017 TNS 271010643
May 2017 TNS 29109633
Dec 2016 TNS 281010633
Jun 2016 TNS 27107763
Jun 2016 Tageblatt 27107763
Jan 2016 TNS 271086531
20 Oct 2013 Election 231313632

Contesting parties

The following parties are contending in the election: [9]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social People's Party 999,38128.3121–2
Socialist Workers' Party 621,33217.6010–3
Democratic Party 597,08016.9112–1
The Greens 533,89315.129+3
Alternative Democratic Reform Party 292,3888.284+1
Pirate Party Luxembourg 227,5496.452+2
The Left 193,5945.4820
Communist Party of Luxembourg 44,9161.2700
Democracy10,3200.290New
The Conservatives9,5160.270New
Total3,529,969100600
Valid votes216,17792.77
Invalid/blank votes16,8377.23
Total votes cast233,014100
Registered voters/turnout259,88789.66
Source: Government of Luxembourg

Aftermath

On 16 October Grand Duke Henri gave Xavier Bettel the task of forming the next government, with the DP, LSAP and DG announcing that they would participate in coalition talks. [10] On 17 October coalition negotiations started between the three parties, with an agreement due to be finished before Christmas. [11] It was expected that the LSAP would take the EU Commission post in the next government, while the DG would increase their influence on ministries. [12]

Related Research Articles

Christian Social Peoples Party political party in Luxembourg

The Christian Social People's Party, abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian-democratic ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, is strongly pro-European. The CSV is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Centrist Democrat International (CDI).

2004 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 13 June 2004, alongside European Parliament elections. The ruling Christian Social People's Party (CSV) of Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker won the election, increasing its number of seats to its highest since before 1989 and its share of the vote to levels not seen since the 1959 election.

Elections in Luxembourg are held to determine the political composition of the representative institutions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a liberal representative democracy, with universal suffrage guaranteed under the constitution. Elections are held regularly, and are considered to be fair and free.

1999 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 13 June 1999, alongside European Parliament elections. The Christian Social People's Party remained the largest party, winning 19 of the 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party.

1994 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 12 June 1994, alongside European Parliament elections. The Christian Social People's Party remained the largest party, winning 21 of the 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It continued the coalition government with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party.

Claude Meisch Luxembourgian politician

Claude Meisch is a Luxembourgish politician holding (?) a degree in financial mathematics from Trier university. Meisch was appointed Minister of Education in 2013 in the government of Xavier Bettel. He has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 1999 and Mayor of Differdange since 2002. He was President of the Democratic Party (DP) from 2004 until 2013, of which he has been a member since 1994.

2009 European Parliament election in Luxembourg election of the delegation from Luxembourg to the European Parliament in 2009

The European Parliament election of 2009 in Luxembourg was the election of the delegation from Luxembourg to the European Parliament in 2009. It was held on the same day as the elections to the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.

2009 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 7 June 2009, together with the 2009 election to the European Parliament. All sixty members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected for five years. The polls were topped by the Christian Social People's Party, which built upon its already high number of seats to achieve a commanding victory, with the highest vote share and number of seats of any party since 1954. Incumbent Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is longest serving head of government in the European Union, renewed the coalition agreement with Deputy Prime Minister and Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party leader Jean Asselborn and formed the Juncker-Asselborn Ministry II, which was sworn-in on 23 July 2009.

Xavier Bettel Luxembourgish politician

Xavier Bettel is a Luxembourgish politician and lawyer, serving as the 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 4 December 2013 after succeeding Jean-Claude Juncker. He has previously served as Mayor of Luxembourg City, member of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the Luxembourg City communal council. Bettel is a member of the Democratic Party. Following the 2018 Luxembourg general election he became the first openly gay Prime Minister in the world to be re-elected for a second term.

François Bausch Luxembourgian politician

François Bausch is a Luxembourgish politician. He is a member of the Chamber of Deputies and communal council, and an échevin, of Luxembourg City. He is leader of the Greens in the Chamber.

Juncker–Asselborn Ministry II

Juncker–Asselborn Ministry II was the government of Luxembourg between 23 July 2009 and 11 July 2013. It was led by, and named after, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and Deputy Prime Minister Jean Asselborn. It was formed on 23 July 2009, after the 2009 election to the Chamber of Deputies. It fell after the withdrawal of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party from the government; Prime Minister Juncker submitted his resignation to the Grand Duke on 11 July 2013, and a snap election was called.

Jean Colombera is a politician and physician in Luxembourg. He currently sits as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Alternative Democratic Reform Party, representing the Nord constituency.

2013 Luxembourg general election

Early general elections were held in Luxembourg on 20 October 2013. The elections were called after Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, at the time the longest serving head of government in the European Union, announced his resignation over a spy scandal involving the Service de Renseignement de l'Etat (SREL). The review found Juncker deficient in his control over the service.

Etienne Schneider Luxembourgish economist

Etienne Schneider is a Luxembourg politician and economist of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). He was a municipal councillor in Kayl from 1995 to 2005, and from 1997 to 2004, he was secretary general of the parliamentary group of the LSAP in Parliament. He was elected first alderman of the municipality of Kayl in 2005, a mandate he held until May 2010. Schneider was appointed Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade on 1 February 2012. In the government formed following the 2013 Luxembourg general election he is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy. He continued to hold these offices following the 2018 Luxembourg general election, where he became the health minister too. From 2013 to 2018, he served as Minister for Defence. Following the 2018 Luxembourg general election, he became the first openly gay politician to be reelected for the office of deputy minister.

Bettel–Schneider Ministry I

The First Bettel–Schneider Ministry was the ruling government of Luxembourg from 4 December 2013 to 5 December 2018. It was led by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Deputy Prime Minister Étienne Schneider. It was formed on 4 December 2013, after the 2013 election to the Chamber of Deputies. The government wa a traffic light coalition between the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), and The Greens. It was succeeded by Bettel–Schneider Ministry II in December 2018.

The 2017 Luxembourg communal elections were held on 8 October to elect the communal councils of the 102 municipalities of Luxembourg.

The Second Bettel–Schneider Ministry is the current government of Luxembourg. It is led by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Co-Deputy Prime Ministers Étienne Schneider and Félix Braz. It was formed on 5 December 2018, after the 2018 election to the Chamber of Deputies. The government is a continuation of the traffic light coalition between the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), and The Greens from the First Bettel–Schneider Ministry, with minor changes.

References

  1. ↑ "When will Luxembourg hold national elections?". Wort.lu. 12 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Parlamentswahlen finden «im Oktober 2018» statt". L'essentiel. 13 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Nationalwahlen im Oktober 2018". Wort.lu. 28 October 2016.
  4. ↑ 7095 - Projet de loi portant modification de la loi électorale modifiée du 18 février 2003, Chamber of Deputies
  5. ↑ Electoral system IPU
  6. ↑ "Voting in legislative elections - Citoyens // Luxembourg". guichet.public.lu. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  7. 1 2 3 "Vote par correspondance" (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  8. ↑ ADR kooperéiert mam Wee 2050/Nee 2015 Alternative Democratic Reform Party, 2 March 2008
  9. ↑ "Wahlen im Oktober: Listennummern stehen fest". Wort.lu. 17 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Bettel gets go from Grand Duke for coalition talks Delano, 16 October 2018
  11. ↑ Luxembourg government agreement before Christmas Luxembourg Times, 15 November 2018
  12. ↑ Coalition parties eye ministerial, commission roles Luxembourg Times, 12 November 2018
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