2018 Luxembourg general election
Luxembourg
14 October 2018

All 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout89.66%
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
CSV Claude Wiseler 28.31 21 −2
LSAP Etienne Schneider 17.60 10 −3
DP Xavier Bettel 16.91 12 −1
Greens Christian Kmiotek 15.12 9 +3
ADR Jean Schoos 8.28 4 +1
Pirates Sven Clement 6.45 2 +2
The Left Collective leadership 5.48 2 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency and commune
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Xavier Bettel
DP
Xavier Bettel
DP

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

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. The 2018 election allowed for the coalition to remain in place with minor changes in government composition.

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, meaning five years after the previous election.[3][4]

Electoral system

Map of Luxembourg's constituencies with number of seats

The 60 members of the Chamber of Deputies was elected by proportional representation in four multi-member constituencies; 9 in North constituency, 7 in East, 23 in South and 21 in Centre. Voters could 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]

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]

Campaign

On 2 March 2018, the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) 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]

Opinion polls

Seat projections

Date Source CSV LSAP DP DG ADR DL KPL
Jun 2018 TNS 26 9 10 7 5 3 0
Dec 2017 TNS 27 10 10 6 4 3 0
May 2017 TNS 29 10 9 6 3 3 0
Dec 2016 TNS 28 10 10 6 3 3 0
Jun 2016 TNS 27 10 7 7 6 3 0
Jun 2016 Tageblatt 27 10 7 7 6 3 0
Jan 2016 TNS 27 10 8 6 5 3 1
20 Oct 2013 Election 23 13 13 6 3 2 0

Parties

The following parties contested the election.[9]

List
No.
Name Abbr. Lead
candidate
Ideology Political
position
Last election Notes
Votes (%) Seats
1 Pirate Party Luxembourg
Piratepartei Lëtzebuerg
PPLU Sven Clement Pirate politics
Direct democracy
Copyright reform
2.94%
0 / 60
2 The Greens
Déi Gréng
DG Christian Kmiotek Green politics
Pro-Europeanism
Centre-left 10.13%
6 / 60
3 Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party
Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei
LSAP Etienne Schneider Social democracy Centre-left 20.28%
13 / 60
4 Christian Social People's Party
Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei
CSV Claude Wiseler Christian democracy
Conservatism
Pro-Europeanism
Centre to
centre-right
33.66%
23 / 60
5 Communist Party of Luxembourg
Kommunistesch Partei vu Lëtzebuerg
KPL Ali Ruckert Communism
Marxism–Leninism
Hard Euroscepticism
Far-left 1.64%
0 / 60
6 Democratic Party
Demokratesch Partei
DP Xavier Bettel Liberalism
Conservative liberalism
Social liberalism
Centre to
centre-right
18.27%
13 / 60
7 Alternative Democratic Reform Party
Alternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei
ADR Jean Schoos Conservatism
Right-wing populism
National conservatism
Right-wing
to far-right
6.64%
3 / 60
8 The Left
Déi Lénk
DL Collective leadership Democratic socialism
Soft Euroscepticism
Left-wing 4.94%
2 / 60
9 Democracy
Demokratie
Did not exist Only presenting lists in the South
and Centre constituencies
10 The Conservatives
Déi Konservativ
Joe Thein Conservatism Did not exist Only presenting a list in the South
constituency

Results

Largest Party in each commune
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social People's Party999,38128.3121–2
Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party621,33217.6010–3
Democratic Party597,08016.9112–1
The Greens533,89315.129+3
Alternative Democratic Reform Party292,3888.284+1
Pirate Party Luxembourg227,5496.452+2
The Left193,5945.4820
Communist Party of Luxembourg44,9161.2700
Democracy10,3200.290New
The Conservatives9,5160.270New
Total3,529,969100.00600
Valid votes216,17792.77
Invalid/blank votes16,8377.23
Total votes233,014100.00
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] The coalition was confirmed and Bettel was reappointed Prime Minister on 5 December 2018.[13]

References

  1. "When will Luxembourg hold national elections?". Wort.lu. 12 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  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 Archived 2019-09-08 at the Wayback Machine 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 Archived 2018-11-17 at the Wayback Machine Luxembourg Times, 15 November 2018
  12. Coalition parties eye ministerial, commission roles Archived 2018-11-17 at the Wayback Machine Luxembourg Times, 12 November 2018
  13. "Bettel starts 2nd term as prime minister of Luxembourg - HoustonChronicle.com". Archived from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
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