On Saturday 9 July, Etienne Schneider, current vice PM and economy minister, announced he wanted the current coalition to continue and become PM if his party wins the largest share of seats in the autumn 2018 elections.Pictured: Schneider poses in front of the ministry of economy in 2013. Olivier Minaire

On Saturday 9 July, Etienne Schneider, current vice PM and economy minister, announced he wanted the current coalition to continue and become PM if his party wins the largest share of seats in the autumn 2018 elections.Pictured: Schneider poses in front of the ministry of economy in 2013. Olivier Minaire

In an interview with RTL radio on Saturday 9 July, Schneider stated that his goal was to continue the current coalition government of DP-LSAP-Greens.

Background

In 2013, the three parties formed a coalition government despite the CSV gaining the largest number of seats in parliament.

The previous CSV-LSAP government had resigned because of internal disagreements between the two parties on the revelations of the so-called Srel affair and the role of then PM Jean-Claude Juncker in dealing with it. Schneider had been minister for the economy in that government.

Schneider gave up his shot at the prime ministerial post in favour of the DP. Some people within the DP at the time favoured a coalition with the centre right CSV, and giving them the PM post was the way to convince them to enter the three-party coalition.

However, in last weekend’s radio interview, Schneider did not rule out the LSAP going into government with the CSV if his party won the election.

He also said that he would sit on the opposition benches if his party lost; he was not planning to go into the private sector.

Schneider said he hoped to convince voters that his government had done a good job, stating that unemployment had gone down, the economy was picking up and important societal reforms had been pushed through.

Bettel: I don’t need to be PM

The current prime minister, Xavier Bettel, had also made a statement three weeks ago in an interview with public radio 100,7.

Bettel said he was not entering the election campaign to become prime minister again. He would not insist on keeping the post to have the current coalition continue, in case they won the election.

However, he also did not categorically exclude a potential coalition with the CSV either, saying that it depended on the election manifestoes of the parties.

A recent public opinion poll by RTL and Luxemburger Wort suggested that the current coalition would lose up to seven seats, which would cost them the majority in parliament.