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The DP candidates for the local elections on October 8Photo: DP 

The DP has dominated the politics of the capital since 1970, making the city a liberal bastion.

Its current mayor, Lydie Polfer, is the lead candidate for the DP. She was mayor from 1982 to 1999, and then again since 2013, after Xavier Bettel (who was the capital’s mayor at the time) became prime minister. She has been an MP (and still is now), an MEP, and a foreign affairs minister.

On the list are the current three aldermen--Simone Beissel, Colette Mart and Patrick Goldschmidt--and four current councilors--Vronny Krieps, Mathis Prost, Claude Radoux and Jeff Wirtz.

A few candidates have dropped off the list: Xavier Bettel (who drew in the most votes in 2011); the current ombudsman Claudia Monti, the former president of a trade union Michel Rodenbourg, former journalist Robi Sinner and former cyclist Benoît Joachim.

New recruits

Of the 27 candidates on the list, 14 are women. Some of the new candidates are Marc Ruppert, secretary general of the party, Stéphanie Goerens, spokesperson for minister of family Corinne Cahen, former journalist and entrepreneur Tanja de Jager, and dancer and choreographer Sylvia Camarda.

A “nice” city

Polfer said that she wanted to present all the work that has been done in the capital over the past six years, while also presenting the election manifesto for the next six years, so that “the capital can become even nicer and more attractive”.

The priorities are housing, mobility and child care. Other topics would include culture, education and sports. The DP intends to invest more in public transport and in parking spaces.

The list of candidates (in alphabetical order):

  • Lydie Polfer: mayor and MP (leading candidate)
  • Barbara Agostino: teacher, director of child care institutions
  • Fernand Bartemes: president of the employees delegation in the local council
  • Simone Beissel: member of the local council, MP and laywer
  • Héloïse Bock: member of the council of state
  • Sylvia Camarda: dancer, choreographer
  • Tanja De Jager: businesswoman
  • Françoise Deutsch (married name: Dupont): economics teacher
  • Dorte Felgen-Jesperson: media advisor
  • Manou Ginter: lawyer
  • Stéphanie Goerens: civil servant
  • Patrick Goldschmidt: member of the local council, tax advisor
  • Vronny Krieps: member of the local council
  • Pascale Krombach-Arend: teacher
  • Colette Mart: member of the local council, journalist
  • Anne Nickels (married name: Waclawek): businesswoman
  • Robert L. Philippart: historian
  • Mathis Prost: member of the local council, lawyer
  • Claude Radoux: member of the local council, economic advisor
  • Romain Reuland: retired
  • Marc Ruppert: history teacher
  • Freddy Schack: businessman
  • Vivane Schammo-Lauth: state employee
  • Pitt Sietzen: student
  • Max Stoffel: primary school teacher
  • Nicolas Thill: primary school teacher
  • Jeff Wirtz: member of the local council, doctor