Francine Closener and Dan Biancalana have been co-presidents of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party since March 2022. (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne/Archives)

Francine Closener and Dan Biancalana have been co-presidents of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party since March 2022. (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne/Archives)

Reduced working hours, equal health and education, access to housing, climate transition, fighting populist forces and youth inclusion: co-presidents Dan Biancalana and Francine Closener detail the LSAP’s priorities as the socialist party celebrated its 120th anniversary.

The LSAP celebrated its 120th anniversary on Saturday 2 July. Delano’s sister publication Paperjam interviewed its joint presidents about their priorities for the coming years as local and parliamentary elections loom in 2023.

Short term priorities for the LSAP, are “the present challenges: the crisis in Ukraine, the climate, the pandemic, social inequalities, digitalisation, the fight against discrimination,” said Dan Biancalana. The ambition is to “build a world of greater solidarity, improve the lives of workers, fight against all forms of discrimination. To make the climate and social issues the same fight. To give everyone a real place in society.” These are the “messages we are committed to, where our ministers bear responsibility, but also as a party.”

Asked about concrete actions to achieve these objectives, the co-chairman cited the ongoing discussions on reducing working hours, which “will make it possible to combine professional and private life to a greater extent.” Francine Closener talked of a 38-hour week. In general, “the party is committed to any project that allows society to progress,” said Biancalana.

Five official priorities

Work is one of the five priorities established by the party. So is health. “We are aiming for a social security system that allows for universal health care, regardless of economic or social situation,”  Biancalana continued.

Housing is another priority that the party wants to tackle--“to solve this crisis, which is the country’s main concern,”  Closener acknowledged. As for education, the party wants school for all that does not reproduce inequalities. “For example, by reviewing the teaching of languages, because today, children who do not speak Luxembourgish at home do not make it through.”

And finally, the climate crisis. The co-president wants a sober and nuanced approach for the party’s reflection on the economy of tomorrow, fiscal justice, agriculture, the world of work. “We cannot ask citizens to give up consumption when our society itself encourages consumption everywhere. We need to think about this and ensure that the most modest households have greater access to everything that helps be part of this ecological transition.”

The right to vote at 16

Francine Closener put other issues on the table. “The biggest challenge is the fight against populist forces. We are already in a democratic crisis where there is a feeling of division in society.” She also proposed the inclusion of younger generations. “I am convinced that we must involve them in politics by allowing the right to vote at 16. Even though the population voted against it in a referendum (in 2015, ed.), I think we need to keep this topic alive.”

The co-presidents compare the LSAP to a lawyer. “One who is committed to human beings, regardless of the situation in which they find themselves,” Biancalana said.

This article was originally published in and has been translated and edited by Delano

Related articles