Parliament votes against lowering voting age

(CS) A majority of deputies voted against the proposal to lower the voting age in Luxembourg to 16 years of age on Tuesday, blocking two drafts by DP deputy Eugène Berger.

Berger said he wanted to encourage youth participation in politics by his proposals to change the constitution and the voting law to give the vote in communal, parliamentary, and European elections to 16-year-olds.

At the chamber of deputies he said that the recent rejection of the school reform by students showed the active involvement and interest of the young in politics, with the need to give them proper representation.

Serge Wilmes, CSV, countered that it wasn't necessary to be young to care about the political concerns of youths and teenagers. He said that the right to vote with 16 could only be possible after a long process of improving political education at schools.

Wilmes was backed by LSAP deputy Alex Bodry who refused claims that his party had changed its course on this topic, saying that changing the voting age had never been part of the 2009 election programme.

Still, he continued that a general debate on the voting system was necessary as the voting population was less and less representative of Luxembourg's citizens.

In the end, Déi Gréng, Déi Lénk and the DP voted in favour of the motions put forward by Berger, with the CSV, LSAP and ADR voting against them.