Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party

The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, French: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, German: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL,[6] is a social-democratic,[1][2][3][4] pro-European[3] political party in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei
Leader	Franz Fayot
Founded	5 July 1902 (historical) 1945 (modern)
Headquarters	68, rue de Gasperich Luxembourg
Youth wing	Luxembourg Socialist Youths
Ideology	Social democracy[1][2][3][4] Progressivism Europeanism
Political position	Centre-left[3][4][5]
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats[3]
Colours	Red
Chamber of Deputies	10 / 60
European Parliament	1 / 6
Local councils	155 / 600
Website
www.lsap.lu
Politics of Luxembourg Political parties Elections

The LSAP is the third-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, having won 10 of 60 seats at the 2018 general election, and has one seat in the European Parliament. The LSAP is currently part of the Bettel–Schneider government, with Etienne Schneider of the LSAP serving as Deputy Prime Minister. Since January 2019, the party's President has been Franz Fayot.

Primarily social-democratic, the party has a strong working class identity, with a democratic socialist faction[7] It is close to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, the country's largest trade union centre, but they have no formal links.[7] The LSAP is particularly strong in the south of the country,[7] controlling most of the mayoralties in the large towns of the Red Lands. It is affiliated with the Socialist International, the Progressive Alliance, and the Party of European Socialists.

History

The party was formed on 5 July 1902 as the Social Democratic Party. Left-wing elements split in 1905 to create the Social Democratic Workers' Party. These were both re-united in 1912. In 1916, the party was renamed to 'Socialist Party', part of the Second International.

On 2 January 1921, communist elements split to create the Communist Party of Luxembourg. The Socialist Party was renamed the "Luxembourg Workers' Party" in 1924, and was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.[8] On 5 November 1937, the Party joined the government for the first time, in a coalition under Prime Minister Pierre Dupong.

Post-war

The party was reformed after the Second World War as the 'Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party', in the mould of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom,[9] where the government had been exiled. In the first election after the war, in 1945, the LSAP was the big loser, falling to 26% of the vote, but remained in the National Union Government, along with all other parties.[9] In 1947, the party started its process of re-building itself, and it managed to join a coalition government (1951-1959 in the Dupong-Bodson and Bech Bodson governments, and 1964–1968 in the Werner-Cravatte government). The discussions over the party's direction split the LSAP again. On 2 May 1970, Henry Cravatte was ejected as President by a trades union-led coup. In March 1971, centrist elements, led by Cravatte, split to create the Social Democratic Party.[10] Those who left included 6 Deputies and most of the party leadership.

However, the LSAP could recover by 1974 and joined the DP in a centre-left coalition (the Thorn-Vouel-Berg government), which enacted important social reforms: judicial system reforms (including a humanisation of the penal system), introduction of a fifth week of holiday, general introduction of the 40-hour week, the salary index, reform of unemployment benefits. This did not prevent an electoral defeat in 1979. In this legislative period, the LSAP held their famous energy conference, and decided a moratorium for the atomic power station of Remerschen. This was the definitive end of project.

In 1984, the LSAP were re-united with most of the Social Democratic Party (some members joined the Christian Social People's Party).

Recent history

Following the 2004 general election, the LSAP served in the government of Luxembourg as junior partner to the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) under Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker in the first Juncker–Asselborn government, with the LSAP's Jean Asselborn serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. The coalition with the CSV continued as the second Juncker–Asselborn government following the 2009 general election, which lasted until July 2013 when the LSAP withdrew its support from the government, necessitating early elections.[11]

Following the 2013 general election, the LSAP has been in a three-party Bettel–Schneider government with the Democratic Party and The Greens, with the Democratic Party's Xavier Bettel serving as Prime Minister and Etienne Schneider of the LSAP as Deputy Prime Minister.

Election results

Below are charts of the results that the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party has secured in the Chamber of Deputies at each election. Timelines showing the number of seats and percentage of votes won are on the right.

Year	Votes			Seats			Cabinet
	Votes	%	Place	Elected seats	Seats after	Place
1919	231,672	15.6	2nd	8 / 48		2nd
1922[lower-alpha 1]	73,963	10.7	4th	4 / 25	6 / 48	3rd
1925	253,256	16.2	2nd	8 / 47		2nd
1928[lower-alpha 1]	352,970	32.6	2nd	10 / 28	12 / 52	2nd
1931[lower-alpha 1]	153,805	19.2	2nd	5 / 27	15 / 54	2nd
1934[lower-alpha 1]	404,729	29.4	2nd	10 / 29	14 / 54	2nd
1937[lower-alpha 1]	238,665	24.7	2nd	7 / 26	18 / 55	2nd	Yes
1945	569,025	23.4	2nd	11 / 51		2nd	Yes
1948[lower-alpha 1]	481,755	37.8	1st	10 / 26	15 / 51	2nd	No
1951[lower-alpha 1]	372,177	33.8	2nd	9 / 26	19 / 52	2nd	Yes
1954	831,836	35.1	2nd	17 / 52		2nd	Yes
1959	848,523	34.9	2nd	17 / 52		2nd	No
1964	999,843	37.7	1st	21 / 56		2nd	Yes
1968	837,555	32.3	2nd	18 / 56		2nd	No
1974	875,881	29.2	2nd	17 / 59		2nd	Yes
1979	787,863	24.3	2nd	14 / 59		3rd	No
1984	1,104,740	33.6	2nd	21 / 64		2nd	Yes
1989	840,094	26.2	2nd	18 / 60		2nd	Yes
1994	797,450	25.4	2nd	17 / 60		2nd	Yes
1999	695,718	22.3	3rd	13 / 60		3rd	No
2004	784,048	23.4	2nd	14 / 60		2nd	Yes
2009	695,830	21.6	2nd	13 / 60		2nd	Yes
2013	664,586	20.2	2nd	13 / 60		2nd	Yes
2018	621,332	17.6	2nd	10 / 60		3rd	Yes

1. Partial election. Only half of the seats were up for renewal.

Presidents

The formal leader of the party is the President. However, often, a government minister will be the most important member of the party, as Jean Asselborn is now. Below is a list of Presidents of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party since 1945.

• Michel Rasquin (1945 – 1951)
• Paul Wilwertz (1951 – 1952)
• Albert Bousser (1952 – 1954)
• Émile Ludwig (1954 – 1955)
• Paul Wilwertz (1955 – 1959)
• Henry Cravatte (1959 – 1970)
• Antoine Wehenkel (1970 – 1974)
• Lydie Schmit (1974 – 1980)
• Robert Krieps (1980 – 1985)
• Ben Fayot (1985 – 1997)
• Jean Asselborn (1997 – 2004)
• Alex Bodry (2004 – 2014)[12]
• Claude Haagen (2014-2019)
• Franz Fayot (2019- )

Footnotes

1. Hans Slomp (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 477. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
2. Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
3. "Luxembourg". Europe Elects.
4. Xenophon Contiades (20 December 2012). Engineering Constitutional Change: A Comparative Perspective on Europe, Canada and the USA. Routledge. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-136-21077-8. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
5. Josep M. Colomer (24 July 2008). Comparative European Politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-203-94609-1. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
6. LSAP is more commonly used, although the French POSL is also mandated by the party's statutes. "LSAP party statutes" (in French). Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party. 17 March 2002. Archived from the original on 12 January 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2006.
7. Hearl (1987), p. 255
8. Kowalski, Werner. Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 - 19. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. p. 308
9. Thewes (2006), p. 123
10. Lucardie, A.P.M. "De Stiefkinderen van de Sociaal-Democrati" (PDF) (in Dutch). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. "Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker calls for new elections amid scandal". Deutsche Welle. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
12. "Les présidents du LSAP depuis 1945". Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

References

• Hearl, Derek (1987). "Luxembourg 1945–82: Dimensions and Strategies". In Budge, Ian; Robertson, David; Hearl, Derek (eds.). Ideology, Strategy, and Party Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 254–69. ISBN 978-0-521-30648-5.
• Thewes, Guy (October 2006). Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848 (PDF) (in French) (2006 ed.). Luxembourg City: Service Information et Presse. ISBN 978-2-87999-156-6. Retrieved 13 April 2010.

External links

• Official website (in Luxembourgish and French)