Juncker has "no intention" of being SREL commission president, says minister

(CS/CBu) Outgoing Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has no intention of becoming the next president of the Luxembourg secret service parliamentary control commission, CSV minister Claude Wiseler has clarified.

Questions arose after Juncker was voted the head of the CSV's opposition group in parliament earlier this week, with Wiseler nominated as his deputy. Traditionally, the opposition leader takes the chair of the secret service's control commission.

However, since the scandal surrounding the SREL and Juncker's responsibility, as determined by an enquiry commission, were the main reasons behind the collapse of the CSV-LSAP coalition, this prospect has raised some eyebrows in the Grand Duchy.

While there is no official rule specifying that the opposition gets to chair the commission, it has to be the head of a party's parliamentary group who heads the commission.

Current head of the commission François Bausch, of “déi Gréng”, commented to the “Luxemburger Wort” that coalition partners have not yet debated the issue.

A solution may nonetheless be on the horizon. The law on the reform of the secret service also includes new guidelines for the parliamentary control commission, specifying a duty to inform the commission on behalf of SREL, the right to charge external experts to investigate SREL-internal issues, as well as organisational aspects to improve efficiency.

Furthermore, the new law foresees that not only the head of a parliamentary group can chair the commission. This would leave the way open for another CSV politician to take charge.

It is known that the new coalition wants to get this law off the ground as soon as possible. In the meantime, custom could be abandoned and the head of one of the coalition parties' parliamentary groups could take over.