Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg)

Chamber of Deputies D'Chamber Chambre des Députés Abgeordnetenkammer
President		Claude Wiseler (CSV) since 21 November 2023
First Vice President	Michel Wolter (CSV) since 21 November 2023
Second Vice President	Fernand Etgen (DP) since 21 November 2023
Third Vice President	Mars Di Bartolomeo (LSAP) since 21 November 2023
Structure
Seats	60
Political groups	Government (35)   CSV (21)   DP (14) Opposition (25)   LSAP (12)   ADR (5)   Greens (4)   Pirates (2)   The Left (2)
Elections
four constituencies
Last election	8 October 2023
Meeting place
Hôtel de la Chambre, Krautmaart, Luxembourg City
Website
www.chd.lu

Politics of Luxembourg
Constitution Law
Monarchy Grand Duke (list) Henri Hereditary Grand Duke and Lieutenant-Representative Prince Guillaume
Executive Government: Frieden-Bettel Prime Minister: Luc Frieden Deputy Prime Minister: Xavier Bettel
Legislature Chamber of Deputies President: Claude Wiseler Current members Council of State
Elections Chamber circonscriptions Recent elections General: 2023 2018 2013 European: 2024 2019 2014 Communal: 2023 2017 2011 Political parties
Administrative divisions Cantons Communes Cities
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Xavier Bettel Diplomatic missions of / in Luxembourg Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Luxembourg portal Other countries
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The Chamber of Deputies (

In a climate marked by the democratic revolutionary movements in France and elsewhere, a new constitution was drafted in 1848 by a Constituent Assembly. This introduced a constitutional monarchy: the King-Grand Duke retained only those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution. The parliament, now called the Chambre des Députés, had the legislative power: it had the right to propose and amend laws. It would decide the budget and received the power to investigate. The government became accountable to the Chamber. In addition, its sessions were now public.^[1]

In 1853,

After Luxembourg's neutrality and independence had been affirmed in the Second Treaty of London, in 1868, the constitution was revised to obtain a compromise between the liberties of 1848 and the authoritarian charter of 1856. The parliament was renamed the Chambre des Députés and regained most of the rights it lost in 1856, such as the annual vote on the budget and taxes. However, the King Grand-Duke still kept wide-ranging powers: he exercised executive power, and wielded legislative power alongside the Chamber.

The constitutional changes of 1919 brought in universal suffrage and affirmed the principle of national sovereignty.^[2] These steps on a pathway of democratisation took place in a period of crisis of the monarchy, famine, and difficulties in supplying food. Grand Duchess Charlotte remained the head of state, and the co-wielder of legislative power.

Most elections between

During World War II, from 1940 to 1944 under German occupation of Luxembourg, the Chamber was dissolved by the Nazis and the country annexed into the "Gau Moselland". The Grand Ducal family and the Luxembourgish government went into exile, first in the United Kingdom, and later in Canada and the United States.

The first post-war session was opened on 6 December 1944 and was limited to one public sitting, as there was no quorum. A consultative assembly sat from March to August 1945, and new elections were held in October 1945. The post-war Chamber proceeded to revise the constitution again, which abolished the country's state of neutrality.

1965 saw the introduction of parliamentary commissions. The establishment of specialised and permanent commissions would facilitate the work of the legislature. The previous organisation of the Chamber into sections, un-specialised and with members chosen at random, had not been effective. Another innovation concerned political groups. They were now officially recognised, and received premises, and subsidies based on their proportion of seat. These material means were dwarfed by those established in 1990.^[1]

Changes to the Chamber's rules in 1990 and 1991 substantially increased the material means available to political groups, and contributed to a professionalisation of politics. In addition, every Deputy had the right to an office close to the Chamber building. The Chamber reimbursed the Deputies' staff expenses. Funds were now also available to "technical groups", following the protests of the small parties at the start of the new session in 1989.

In 2003, a new law established the office of the mediator and ombudsman. This was attached to the Chamber, but would not receive instructions from any authority in exercising his or her functions. They would deal with citizens' complaints concerning the central or local government administration, and other public entities. They would attempt to resolve disputes between parties, acting as a mediator. Every year, they would present a report to the Chamber.

Since January 2008, the political parties have been directly funded by the state. Their accounts were to be strictly separate from those of the parliamentary political groups. There were to be two different structures, each with their own staff. In order to receive public funds, a party must provide evidence of regular political activity, present complete lists of candidates at the legislative and European elections, and have received at least 2% of the vote.^[1]

The function of the Chamber of Deputies is covered under Chapter IV of the

The Chamber is composed of sixty members, called

. Each constituency elects a number of deputies proportionate to its population, with the largest electing 23 and the smallest electing 7.

Constituency	Cantons	MPs
Centre	Mersch	21
East	Remich	7
North	Wiltz	9
South	Esch-sur-Alzette	23

Elections

See also: Elections in Luxembourg

Electoral system

Deputies are elected by universal suffrage every five years, with the last election having been held on 8 October 2023. Deputies are elected by open list proportional representation, whereby all electors may vote for as many candidates as their constituency has seats. Each party is allocated a number of seats in proportion to the total number of votes cast for its candidates in that constituency. These seats are then allocated to that party's candidates in descending order of votes that each candidate received.

Latest election

Main article: 2023 Luxembourg general election

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social People's Party	1,099,427	29.21	21	0
	Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party	711,890	18.91	11	+1
	Democratic Party	703,833	18.70	14	+2
	Alternative Democratic Reform Party	348,990	9.27	5	+1
	The Greens	321,895	8.55	4	–5
	Pirate Party Luxembourg	253,554	6.74	3	+1
	The Left	147,839	3.93	2	0
	Fokus	93,839	2.49	0	New
	Liberté - Fräiheet! [lb]	42,643	1.13	0	New
	Communist Party of Luxembourg	24,275	0.64	0	0
	The Conservatives	8,494	0.23	0	0
	Volt Luxembourg	7,001	0.19	0	New
Total		3,763,680	100.00	60	0
Valid votes		231,344	92.55
Invalid votes		10,735	4.29
Blank votes		7,889	3.16
Total votes		249,968	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		286,711	87.18
Source: Government of Luxembourg

Hôtel de la Chambre

Main article: Hôtel de la Chambre

The Chamber of Deputies holds session in the

Grand Ducal Palace, which had, until then, been used as one of many venues for the Chamber's convocations.^[9]

The building was designed by

neo-classical architectural styles.^[9] The Grand Ducal Palace, by contrast, was built over time in several architectural styles (primarily Renaissance and Baroque), but renovated in 1891 in a historicist neo-Renaissance manner.^[10] The large portrait of Grand Duke Henri was painted by Belgian artist Louis Van Gorp

.

Current composition

Affiliation		Deputies
G	Christian Social People's Party (CSV)	21
G	Democratic Party (DP)	14
O	Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP)	12
O	Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR)	5
O	The Greens (Déi Gréng)	4
O	Pirate Party (Piratepartei)	2
O	The Left (Déi Lénk)	2
Total		60
Government Majority		10

Government parties are denoted with the letter G, with the Christian Social People's Party holding the office of Prime Minister (Luc Frieden). O stands for opposition.

The LSAP gained a seat on 19 September 2024 with the defection of Pirate Deputy Ben Polidori.^[11]

Historical composition

Since 1945

KPL   DL   DG   LSAP   PSD   PPLU   Others   DP   CSV   ADR
1945	5 11 1 9 25
1948	5 15 9 22
1951	4 19 8 21
1954	3 17 6 26
1959	3 17 11 21
1964	5 21 2 6 22
1968	6 18 11 21
1974	5 17 5 14 18
1979	2 14 2 2 15 24
1984	2 2 21 14 25
1989	1 4 18 11 22 4
1994	5 17 12 21 5
1999	1 5 13 15 19 7
2004	7 14 10 24 5
2009	1 7 13 9 26 4
2013	2 6 13 13 23 3
2018	2 9 10 2 12 21 4
2023	2 4 11 3 14 21 5

Members

• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg 2004–2009
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg 2009–2013
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg 2013–2018
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg 2018–2023
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg 2023–2028

See also

• List of presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Histoire parlementaire" (in French). Luxembourg. 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
2. S2CID 147639497
   .
3. ^ Constitution, Article 50
4. ^ Constitution, Article 51
5. ^ Constitution, Article 51(5)
6. ^ Constitution, Article 46
7. ^ Constitution, Article 59
8. ^ Constitution, Article 62
9. ^ ^{a b} "The Chamber of Deputies". Service Information et Presse. 21 November 2003. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
10. ^ "Historical survey" (PDF). Luxembourg City Tourist Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
11. ^ "Former Pirate Party MP Ben Polidori joins LSAP: statement". today.rtl.lu. 2024-09-19.

References

• "Constitution" (PDF) (in French). Service central de législation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-04-05.

External links

• Official website (in French)