With its traders, its independents, its entrepreneurs and its people “very committed to social issues,” (CSV), who presented the 27 CSV candidates for the communal elections in the capital on the evening of Wednesday 1 March at the Schéiss cultural centre in Belair, was delighted with a list that “reflects the current city very well.”
Composed of 12 women and 15 men of 7 different nationalities and an average age of 45.8 years, the list revealed--and validated in the evening at the general assembly--presents well-known political personalities: the deputies and , the co-president of the CSV, , and the alderman . But there is also a new generation: of the 27 candidates, 16 are running for the first time.
Serge Wilmes’ ‘team’ is made up of 12 women and 15 men of 7 different nationalities and an average age of 45.8. Photo: Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne
The group is presented as a “team” by Wilmes. “It is very important for me, , that I insist on the ‘we’, because we work together, not one is above the others.”
“Winning the elections”
The objective this year is clear: “Win the elections.” Six years ago, the CSV went from 5 to 7 seats in the local council, after 12 years in opposition. The candidate for mayor intends to further “strengthen” the position of the Christian Socialist Party. “This time we are going to win,” he said.
In the ruling coalition (with the DP) since 2017, Wilmes said that the capital city still has a “huge potential” to “improve” and has as “vision and ambition” that it becomes “the best place to live.”
Although the programme is not yet complete, the candidate outlined the priorities. First of all, there is the development of the 24 districts of the capital so that they become “places of daily life” and “sustainable”. The plan is to have services, shops, cultural and leisure areas close by, accessible by bike or on foot from home. Then, in the same vein, the CSV wants to create new neighbourhoods, “the best that exist” with social diversity, soft mobility, friendly, green and functional public spaces.
A municipal police force
One of the priorities also remains, unsurprisingly, security, but “it's not just the repressive aspect, it's also prevention,” Wilmes assures. The solution, according to him, is a local police force, at the service of the citizens. “We want to create a new municipal police force, which will be placed under the authority of the mayor and the aldermanic college,” says Wilmes. “This will be taken up by the CSV at national level,” he explains, since such a development requires a law--and therefore a favourable majority, which the legislative elections will determine.
While Wilmes assures that he will “not confront the DP, but campaign for our vision,” he does not close the door to possible other alliances after the elections. “We are open to everything,” he says. “We want to win the elections, and then we will see who we can team up with to develop a common vision and achieve a common project for the city. We obviously hope that it will be ours.”
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.