Twelfth

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg is stuck in twelfth place. Luc Frieden's sympathy, competence, and familiarity scores remain low for a sitting head of government, unchanged from last year's Politmonitor ranking. The tripartite wage deal, meant to reset the political narrative, has not moved the needle.[1]

His coalition partners are doing better. The Democratic Party (DP) has four names in the top ten. Carole Hartmann, the DP party leader, deflected the question when asked why her colleagues outperform the PM. The important thing, she said, is the overall work of the government. If the public has not yet given its full approval, that simply means the work must continue.[1]

Give it time

Laurent Zeimet, parliamentary group president of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), Frieden's own party, urged patience. The tripartite deal is now being implemented in the Chamber, he said. Its effects will only reach the public in the months to come. The matter should be given time to unfold rather than being judged too hastily.[1]

Forty-nine percent of those polled are satisfied with the government's work, up one percentage point from last year. A modest improvement that barely registers outside the margin of error.

The opposition is stuck too

The survey's stasis is not limited to the government. The opposition has not gained ground over the past twelve months either. Sam Tanson, spokesperson for the Greens (dei greng), noted that government approval remains modest, even after what she called a successful tripartite. The government, in her reading, is not reaping the rewards.[1]

Maxime Miltgen, president of the Socialist Party (LSAP), said the party does politics founded on substance. That is a long-term effort, she said, and the results will show through later. Fred Keup of the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) dismissed the poll's relevance, saying his party always performs better at elections than in surveys. David Wagner of the Left (dei Lenk) made a similar point about the gap between personal likeability and political alignment.[1]

A third Gambia?

The question lurking beneath the numbers is whether a third DP-LSAP-Greens coalition, the so-called "Gambia" alliance, is already taking shape. The current CSV-DP government has not delivered the political dividend its partners hoped for. The DP's strong showing in the rankings, combined with Frieden's stagnation, creates a narrative where the junior partner might start looking for alternative alliances after the next election.[1]

Nobody is saying this out loud yet. But the numbers are saying it for them. When the Prime Minister ranks twelfth and his coalition partner holds four of the top ten spots, the political geometry starts to look unstable.