It is now a tradition for the various parties in the Chamber to invite members of the press to so-called parliamentary group dinners before the summer break, in order to reflect on the past parliamentary year. On Thursday, it was déi Lénk's (The Left) turn, and the party took the opportunity to settle its accounts with what it sees as the government's neoliberal and authoritarian bent.
For one or two journalists it made for a slight sense of déjà vu, since the Left had chosen the same restaurant as the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) had used the week before. Yet although the Left, like the LSAP, took aim at the government's policies, the message was not quite the same.
Looking back on the party's work over the past 12 months, David Wagner drew this conclusion. There had only been two of them [as Left MPs], he said, and they could perhaps have done more, and perhaps they still would, since they were putting their minds to it. Between them, they had nevertheless got things done and had acted as the left-wing pole in the Chamber. If the party emerged stronger, he added, it would keep pushing positive, social and progressive issues with still more force.
He also underlined that it was on the initiative of the Left that the right to abortion had been enshrined in the constitution. "Contrary to what is sometimes said", he argued, "this was not a purely symbolic contribution. On the day, one hoped it never came, when reactionary forces gained ground and perhaps a majority, that inclusion would prove far less symbolic, since it would then be considerably harder to strip away."
Whether the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) was the reactionary force he had in mind was not entirely clear. It would not have been much of a stretch to draw the conclusion, however, since Wagner had, shortly before, accused the ADR of racism, misogyny, homophobia and climate scepticism.
The Luc Frieden Christian Social People's Party (CSV) - Democratic Party (DP) government, Marc Baum argued, had come forward with the most neoliberal programme in decades. Even so, with the Left's help, the party had also managed to slow that policy down. He pointed to the pension reform, the debate on the national representation of trade unions and the liberalisation of the healthcare system as examples. Even then, he said, remnants of the government's authoritarianism could still be seen.
That, according to Baum, took the shape of Home Affairs Minister Léon Gloden. Having first taken aim at beggars, and then at asylum seekers through the asylum package, Gloden had now turned to the homeless with the loitering ban, and had become so agitated that he was walking through the Gare district in a bulletproof vest, where in Baum's view one could reasonably start asking serious questions about the minister's mental health.
One also has to ask what this government still intends to do over the next two years, Baum went on. On that front, he said, he had the impression that the priority was, first and foremost, to run a policy for employers.
Just a few days ago, he pointed out, the housing booster had been unveiled, which in reality was above all a booster for large developers rather than for tenants. The same could be seen in every strand of the tripartite agreement, he added, and in a tax policy that is simply being extended. All the while, he argued, in order to win the elections, the government is putting on a general tour at the expense of the public finances.
Instead of tax giveaways for electoral reasons, what is needed is large-scale investment in public housing and the energy transition. For those, Baum said, the country could certainly afford to borrow.
For this legislative term, it was the last press dinner for both Wagner and Baum as MPs. Under the Left's rotation principle, they will step aside for the next candidates on the list after the October election. Ana Correia da Veiga is set to replace Wagner, and Gary Diderich to replace Baum.
