The Left (Luxembourg)

(Redirected from La Gauche (Luxembourg))

The Left (Luxembourgish: Déi Lénk [dəɪ ˈleŋk]; French: La Gauche; German: Die Linken) is a democratic socialist[2][3] political party in Luxembourg.[4] On the political spectrum, it is considered a left-wing[13] to far-left[21] political party. The Left is associated with The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament but does not have any members. The party participates in the Party of the European Left.[22] The Left wishes to transition Luxembourg from a constitutional monarchy into a republic.[23]

The Left
Déi Lénk
LeaderCollective leadership
Founded30 January 1999
Headquarters63, bvd de la Pétrusse, Luxembourg
Youth wingJonk Lénk
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing to far-left
European affiliationPEL
European Parliament groupGUE/NGL
Colours  Red
Chamber of Deputies
2 / 60
European Parliament
0 / 6
Local councils
5 / 722
Website
dei-lenk.lu

The Left was founded by the New Left and the Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) as an electoral party. It had members from both parties and independents.[24] In the 1999 Luxembourg general election, the Left won 3.3% of the votes and one seat in the parliament; André Hoffmann was elected from the southern constituency. In 2000, after anticipated elections in the city of Esch sur Alzette, Hoffmann became deputy mayor and Aloyse Bisdorff (KPL) succeeded him in parliament. In accordance with the Left's statutes, Bisdorff resigned from parliament and was succeeded by Serge Urbany in 2002. A dispute arose between a number of members of the KPL and the majority of the Left; as a result, the two parties ran separate lists in the 2004 Luxembourg general election. The Left won 1.9% of the votes and lost its parliamentary presence. In the 2009 Luxembourg general election, it increased its share of the vote to 3.3% and Hoffmann returned to parliament as the Left's sole representative; Hoffmann's personal vote of 9,067 in the south constituency was almost equal to the total number of votes gathered by the KPL, which won 10,803 votes.[25] In 2013, the party elected two members (Serge Urbany and Justin Turpel).

In 2022, member of parliament Nathalie Oberweis [lb] of déi Lénk made a statement concerning the war in Ukraine, that a peace solution to which Russia as well as Ukraine could agree should be found as fast as possible, and that this could best be achieved by Ukraine renouncing their accession to NATO.[26]

According to their electoral programme (Point 17.4) déi Lénk want the complete dissolution of NATO or at least the exit of Luxembourg from the organisation.[27]

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

ElectionVotes%Seats+/–Government
1999110,2743.3 (#6)
1 / 60
NewOpposition
200462,0711.9 (#6)
0 / 60
1Extra-parliamentary
2009109,1843.3 (#6)
1 / 60
1Opposition
2013161,7594.5 (#6)
2 / 60
1Opposition
2018193,5945.5 (#7)
2 / 60
0Opposition
2023147,8393.9 (#7)
2 / 60
0Opposition
Constituency2013
votes
%2009
votes
%2004
votes
%1999
votes
%
Centre51,8515.7535,4113.5020,4511.9927,9992.82
East5,9413.053,9112.252,1791.312,4481.63
North8,1382.565,7852.003,7251.343,6531.41
South95,8295.7364,0774.1336,8682.2876,1744.98

European Parliament

ElectionVotes%Seats+/–
199928,1302.8
0 / 6
200418,3451.7
0 / 6
0
200937,9293.4
0 / 6
0
201467,5135.8
0 / 6
0
201960,6484.8
0 / 6
0

References

Bibliography

  • Wehenkel, Henri, Communisme et postcommunisme au Luxembourg, in: Communisme 2014, 1989–2014 – L'éternel retour des communistes, p. 165–172
  • Wehenkel, Henri/Redondo, Jean-Laurent/Hoffmann, André/Urbany, Serge, Table ronde: PCL et/ou nouvelle gauche: renouvellement et/ou scission, in: Cahiers Marxistes, No. 201, April–May 1996, p. 121–144