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The open letter demands more engagement with the party base.Picture credit: screenshot of lsap.lu 

The central question in this election year, according to the signatories is:

“What sort of society do we want for Luxembourg, how do we, Luxembourgers and foreign residents with their particular nationalities and cultures, want to live together in future? And what is our understanding of the cross-border workers?”

Taina Bofferding (MP), Franz Fayot (MP), Tess Burton (MP), Claudia Dall’Agnol (MP), Gabriel Boisanté, Joanne Goebbels, Christophe Schiltz, Jimmy Skenderovic, Bob Steichen and Sammy Wagener have launched an appeal to the party leadership and its representatives to listen and discuss with its members and militants. They argue that it will not be enough to do this “at a conference or a one-hour meeting with a lecture from a few leaders followed by a short discussion. No, the party must find new formats and methods to take the pulse of its party base, and to engage in a real dialogue. We must again become the advocate of people, listen to them and be available for everyone.”

They plead for a return to more left-wing socialist policies, finding that:

“the LSAP has the image of a party which moved away from its social roots and has made too many compromises on its ideas. We must change that.”

The signatories find their party lacks a clear profile, and that many people don’t really know what the LSAP stands for.

The open letter, published on 6 January, also calls for recruiting more women and young people, as many disappointed voters have turned their back on the party.

The party needs to spread its message “professionally” and send “appropriate people” to debates, but most of all, the party needs to speak clearly and “show its edge” on issues such as redistribution, on social and societal issues, with its principles of “freedom, justice and solidarity” being more important than ever.

Policy areas

The policy areas of social emancipation, education, justice, culture and mobility have been neglected since 2013 and the party must develop these in its election manifesto. The signatories also put the challenge of a digitized work place in the foreground, and that the social democratic party must develop new ideas.

The letter addresses also the subject of social injustice and rising inequalities, which are compounded by the housing crisis, and calls for “radical far-reaching measures” to solve these problems.

Finally, the letter states that “simple tactical strategies won’t enthuse anyone anymore.”

Recent opinion polls indicate that the LSAP might lose up to three seats in parliament.