No Jokes

Last year, the Prime Minister made a joke. It did not land. On Friday, at the CSV summerfest, Laurent Zeimet, the parliamentary faction leader, made sure everyone remembered. "The atmosphere was slightly tense and the PM made a joke. Today he has promised not to make a joke, right?!"[1]

Luc Frieden kept his promise. His speech was serious. He spoke about his trip to the NATO summit in Ankara, about graduating students, and about why he practises politics with the CSV. "I do this to make Luxembourg a place where we can live together in peace, in freedom, prosperity and social cohesion, not against one another."[1]

Praise for the tripartite

General Secretary Alex Donnersbach opened with praise for Frieden's handling of the tripartite negotiations, declaring that other countries could be envious of how Luxembourg negotiates its social model. He credited the PM with "his ability to calmly and decisively get all partners around the negotiating table, to work together constructively and find solutions for the country's wellbeing."[1]

The tripartite deal has been the government's flagship achievement. Whether it has moved the political needle is another question. The Politmonitor survey published two days earlier showed government satisfaction at 49%, up one percentage point from last year. Frieden himself remains stuck in 12th place in the sympathy rankings, while his coalition partner Xavier Bettel continues to top them.[1]

Zeimet grills the opposition

With Frieden abstaining from comedy, Zeimet took over as the party's attack dog. He went after the LSAP for painting Luxembourg as the "poorhouse of Europe", noting the party spent years in government if everything was so awful. He went after the ADR for their foreign policy positions, quoting their apparent willingness to "sit down with Putin" and give him what he wants rather than investing in defence.[1]

"If these are the options for the red-white-blue party, then their homeland means nothing to them," Zeimet said. "They're not ready to invest another cent in defence. That shows how much they carry Luxembourg in their hearts."[1]

The dog explanation

Zeimet also addressed Frieden's polling problem with a theory of his own. "There's one survey, and another, and the comments say, the Prime Minister is falling down the ranks, and then he climbs back up, how can this be explained? Well, because he doesn't own a dog."[1]

The line drew laughs. It was also the closest the evening came to an acknowledgement that the PM's popularity problem is real, and that the party does not have a serious explanation for it. The dog excuse is as good as any. Foreign Minister Bettel, who outperforms Frieden in every survey, does not own a dog either. He just has a personality that registers with voters in a way the Prime Minister's does not.[1]

The summerfest ended with beer and grilled sausages. Frieden wished the guests bon appetit. No jokes. The sausage, at least, did not require explanation.