Déi Gréng on Wednesday announced Welfring as Dieschbourg’s successor. Welfring since 1 April has been serving as director of the environment administration. She holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in environmental sciences. She was deputy director of the administration since 2014.
Between 2010 and 2014, Welfring was director of the business development department at the Henri Tudor research centre. The institution has since been integrated into the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (List).
The proposal by party management must be confirmed by déi Gréng members and the grand duke has to swear in the new member of cabinet. Welfring has no prior experience in politics--such as serving as a member of parliament or local counsellor--similar to Yuriko Backes (DP) who became finance minister at the start of the year.
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Dieschbourg (déi Gréng) is set to be investigated tied to Green party colleague Roberto Traversini after stepping down from office last week.
The public prosecutor’s office on 21 April had forwarded the preliminary investigation to the Chamber of Deputies. Only parliament can lift the immunity and investigate members of government. But the following day left it unclear who holds judicial authority to investigate the former environment minister.
A legal opinion commissioned by the Chamber of Deputies concluded that parliament would lead the investigation as it dates to Dieschbourg’s time in office. Among the reasons for her resignation, the minister had cited not wanting parliament to be burdened with the procedure.
The green party has encountered several bumps in recent years, with suffering a heart attack which led to a reshuffling of the party’s cabinet positions. Current mobility and defence minister François Bausch has also announced that he would not be taking on the position of minister anymore after the next elections.
(Additional reporting by Cordula Schnuer)