Secret service enquiry commission finalises report

(CS) An enquiry commission, charged with investigating the Luxembourg secret service's activities since the 1960s, finalised it report on Friday, with seven out of 13 commission members voting for the document, which will be debated in parliament next week.

The SREL enquiry commission has been at work since the end of last year, revealing a mismanagement of the secret service over the years. It emerged during the hearings that members of the secret service acted beyond their jurisdiction, and that the SREL conducted activities beyond the knowledge of the Prime Minister, who is officially the head of the organisation.

The extent of Jean-Claude Juncker's knowledge of the SREL's activities was a hotly debated issue between the 13 MPs, who form the commission, as it has a direct impact on the issue of political responsibility and possible consequences for the Premier.

On Friday, the commission voted on the report, with seven MPs voting in favour (LSAP: Alex Bodry, Ben Fayot, Lucien Lux; DP: Claude Meisch, Lydie Polfer; déi Gréng: François Bausch; ADR: Gast Gibéryen) , five voting against the report (CSV: Paul-Henri Meyers, Christine Doerner, Léon Gloden, Gilles Roth and Lucien Weiler) and one abstention (déi Lénk: Serge Urbany).

Coalition parties divided over report

The CSV commented following the meeting on Friday that it had voted against the report as the responsibility of the parliamentary control commission of the SREL had not been sufficiently addressed, and evidence to exonerate Juncker had not been taken on board, despite recommendations issued by the CSV.

In the final 140-page report it is stated that “la responsabilité politique du Ministre d'État est engagée.” While this appears to be a toned down version of a previous draft of the report which stated that the Prime Minister's responsibility is “indisputable”, it nonetheless seems to place the Premier in a central position in the scandal.

Opposition party DP has announced that it stands by its motion demanding a resignation of the entire government, a motion which had failed in parliament in June. The Green Party meanwhile will deliberate on trying to introduce a vote of confidence in parliament, with a marathon session to debate the report scheduled for Wednesday.

The relationship to coalition party LSAP meanwhile could suffer under the current crisis. While the LSAP supported the CSV when “déi Gréng” and the DP tried to introduce a motion demanding the resignation of the Finance Minister and the government, respectively, all LSAP members of the commission voted for the report on Friday.

Re-elections therefore are not ruled out, as Prime Minister Juncker is set to defend himself at the Chamber of Deputies next week.