Changes to Luxembourg’s constitution must be confirmed in parliament by a two-thirds majority and lawmakers must vote on them twice with an interval of at least three months. During these three months, voters can launch a request to hold a referendum.

A group of voters on 4 February submitted this request to the prime minister’s office, the latter said in a statement. Xavier Bettel (DP) now has three days to review the documents. At least five voters must support the initiative and file the relevant paperwork.

The previous request in October of last year was granted within two days. This meant that voters could sign their name to a list supporting the referendum at their commune. But only 7,397 valid signatures were collected, far from the 25,000 needed to trigger a referendum.

Members of parliament on 25 January passed in a first vote, including clipping the grand duke’s role as head of state, regulating the organisation of the government and enshrining national symbols, such as the Luxembourgish language.

Lawmakers had previously adopted reforms of the justice system and are yet to vote on two further batches of changes, on rights and liberties, and the Chamber of Deputies and Council of State.

The comprehensive reform of Luxembourg’s highest laws began over a decade ago and in 2019 hit an impasse when a completely new text was shelved over party-political squabbles. This document was replaced with a piece-meal update of the existing constitution from 1868, divided into four chapters.

Two of them have now been adopted--in a first vote--by the Chamber of Deputies.

Lawmakers, too, can force a referendum if 16 members of parliament petition the government. The right-wing party ADR opened a list of signatures on 25 January. Its previous effort in October last year garnered support from only eight MPs who supported a call for public ballot: the opposition seats of the ADR, Déi Lénk and the Pirate Party.