The success of Déi Gréng at the parliamentary election in October was a surprise to many political commentators, and perhaps even to the party leaders themselves. But it is not one that they have shied from.
Emboldened by winning three seats and thereby saving the coalition it enjoyed with the DP and the LSAP, Déi Gréng expects to have even more sway over government policy than during the previous administration.

Their coalition partners, and the opposition CSV, could learn a lesson or two. As the Pirate Party’s Sven Clement pointed out on election night, the electorate appeared to appreciate the Greens for their credibility. The party’s ministers all managed to implement many of the policies to which they were committed under the 2013 coalition agreement.

The Greens, and François Bausch in particular, endured the wrath of their most vocal opponents in the press and on social media--some commentators went so far as to say that the Greens’ “collectivist” mobility policy was forcing people to use public transport--but they stuck to their guns.

The party also suffered the loss, just six months before polling day, of one of its most respected politicians, Camille Gira. His replacement, the MEP Claude Turmes, was consistently regarded as one of the hardest working members of the European Parliament. Honesty, consistency and direct engagement appear to have paid off across the board as the party gained an average of 5% around the grand duchy.

Immediately after the election results were announced, Félix Braz said that Déi Gréng had always been treated equally by the other two partners of the so-called Gambia coalition. He may have been playing his cards close to his chest because, as an analysis by Laurent Schmit of Reporter.lu suggests, the DP and the LSAP often conspired to block some of the more environmentally progressive policies Déi Gréng wanted to promote.

With coalition talks likely to extend until the end of November, Luxembourg waits with bated breath to find out the composition of the new government. Whether Déi Gréng can continue to be credible and push through their agendas under new circumstances, and under even greater scrutiny, remains to be seen.