The two spokespeople of déi Lénk, Carole Thoma and Gary Diederich, on the left, accompanied by the two deputies of the party, Myriam Cecchetti and Nathalie Oberweis. (Photo: Maison Moderne)

The two spokespeople of déi Lénk, Carole Thoma and Gary Diederich, on the left, accompanied by the two deputies of the party, Myriam Cecchetti and Nathalie Oberweis. (Photo: Maison Moderne)

Déi Lénk was back in office on Tuesday. The left-wing opposition party did not hesitate to criticise a government coalition where "everyone is already preparing for the 2023 legislative elections". To the detriment, according to them, of the work that should be done...

"Our message is clear: the government's current policy is not inevitable, nor is the increase in social inequality in our society.”

This is how Gary Diederich, one of the spokespeople of Déi Lénk, summed up the press conference of his party, which was held this Tuesday morning. Around him were the other spokesperson, Carole Thoma, and two Déi Lénk deputies, and .

Déi Lénk noted the "explosion of social inequalities", as Carole Thoma described it. The left-wing party pointed out, among other things, four major areas where this is, according to them, applicable: “Housing, where some people suffer more and more while others become even richer by taking advantage of the situation. Then there is the climate, where the people who are less well off economically are the ones who have the least means to renovate their property and will therefore suffer more from the rise in energy prices. And then there is education and health. A recent Liser study shows that the poorest 20% of the population are twice as likely as the richest 20% to be hospitalised because of Covid.”

Not the same courage for the climate as for Covid

These inequalities have increased in recent months with the health crisis "but were already present before". And, not surprisingly, it is the ruling DP-LSAP-déi Gréng coalition that is being singled out for its "lack of courage" which is taking the country "straight into the wall, particularly because of its management of the current housing and climate crises" according to Gary Diderich.

"There is a need to take measures, reforms, commensurate with these crises," he said. "We saw during the health crisis that if you really want to solve a crisis, you can take decisions that would have been considered 'impossible' in other times. This is proof that we can do it if our backs are against the wall. However, for other crises such as the climate crisis, I see that this government does not have the same courage. And yet the emergency is there.”

Coalition parties "no longer want to mix”

For déi Lénk, the Covid-19 crisis gave the impression that we were moving towards more mutual support and solidarity. But this is no longer the case. "The only measures taken by this government are based on individuality. It favours individual investments, such as electric cars, energy renovation... Solidarity and the collective are not pushed forward enough," continues Diderich.

In order to limit these social inequalities, Luxembourg would need, according to the left-wing party, a tax reform that has been "promised" but postponed "thanks to the excuse of the health crisis. However, this gives the impression that the three parties in power have such a small common denominator that they are unable to implement this tax reform," says Carole Thomas.

It gives her the impression that "everyone in this coalition is already preparing for the 2023 legislative elections". And that as a result, the DP, the LSAP and déi Greng are "not too keen to mix" and to carry out major joint projects.