Alternative Democratic Reform Party

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Alternative Democratic Reform Party
Leader Robert Mehlen
Founded 12 May 1987
Headquarters 22, rue de l'eau
L-1449 Luxembourg
Youth wing Adrenalin
Ideology Conservatism
National conservatism[1]
Economic liberalism
Soft euroscepticism[2]
Political position Centre-right to Right wing
European affiliation Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists
International affiliation None
Colours Red, white, and blue
Chamber of Deputies
3 / 60
European Parliament
0 / 6
Website
www.adr.lu
Politics of Luxembourg
Political parties
Elections

The Alternative Democratic Reform Party (Luxembourgish: Alternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei, French: Parti réformiste d'alternative démocratique, German: Alternative Demokratische Reformpartei), abbreviated to ADR, is a conservative political party in Luxembourg. It has three seats in the sixty-seat Chamber of Deputies, making it the fifth-largest party.

The party was founded in 1987, as a single-issue party from demanding equality of state pension provision between civil servants and all other citizens.[3] In the 1989 election, it won four seats, and established itself as a political force. It peaked at seven seats in 1999, due to mistrust of politicians failing to resolved the pensions gap,[4] before falling back to four today. Its significance on a national level makes it the most successful pensioners' party in western Europe.[5]

Political success has required the ADR to develop positions on all matters of public policy, developing an anti-establishment,[5] conservative platform. It has adopted economic liberalism, filling a gap vacated by the Democratic Party.[6] It is the largest party to take a eurosceptic line, and is a member of the anti-federalist Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists.

History

Emergence

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The ADR has its roots in a demonstration in Luxembourg City on 28 March 1987, held to protest at the disparities between the 5/6ths final salary scheme enjoyed by civil servants and the basic state pension received by everyone else.[7] The large crowd, and the collection of 10,000 signatures for a petition demanding change, persuaded the organisers that there was widespread public support. The party was founded on the 12 May 1987 as the 'Action Committee 5/6ths Pensions for Everyone' (Aktiounskomitee 5/6 Pensioun fir jiddfereen).[8]

In the 1989 election to the Chamber of Deputies, on 18 June 1989, the party achieved remarkable success by attracting votes from far beyond its core support base. Many Luxembourgers voted for the ADR as a protest vote, allowing the ADR to register 7.3% of the vote, win 4 of the 60 seats, and come fourth.[8] The spectacular triumph of the party in the election required the leadership to formulate a new party strategy. On 12 November 1989, the name was amended to 'Action Committee 5/6ths' (Aktiounskomitee 5/6), reflecting its increased attention to other concerns.[8] The party lost one of its deputies, Josy Simon, when he defected to the Democratic Party in spring 1991.[9]

On 22 November 1992, the name was changed again, to 'Action Committee for Democracy and Pensions Justice' (Aktiounskomitee fir Demokratie an Rentengerechtigkeet).[8] In December of the same year, the prominent deputy Fernand Rau defected from the Christian Social People's Party after the CSV broke its pledge to make him European Commissioner, increasing the ADR's representation back up to four.[10] At the 10 October 1993 local elections, the ADR won 7 seats in communal councils. At the 1994 general election, the ADR got 9.0% of the vote and 5 seats, putting the ADR over the threshold required to qualify as a caucus, but the ADR fell to fifth place, behind the resurgent Greens.[8]

Mainstream party

On 3 August 1998, a law was passed equalising pension provision between civil servants and other workers,[11] fulfilling the ADR's original raison d'être, but this did not prevent the ADR from strengthening its position further. In the 1999 legislative election, the party enjoyed increased success, winning 9.4% of the vote and 7 seats. The results put the ADR back into fourth place, but the Greens managed to hold on to their seat in the simultaneous European elections.[8] October 1999 saw ADR candidates elected in ten communes, with two winning in each of Luxembourg City and Esch-sur-Alzette.[8] The ADR lost two of its Chamber of Deputies seats at the 2004 general election, and its share of the vote fell to under 10%.[8]

One of ADR's hallmark positions is its euroscepticism, and it is the only eurosceptic party in the Chamber of Deputies.[12] It was the only parliamentary party that actively campaigned against the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which was put to a referendum and narrowly passed with 56.5% of voters in favour.

On 2 April 2006 the name was changed once more, to its current name of 'Alternative Democratic Reform Party' (Alternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei).[8] Significantly, for the first time, the name makes no reference to pension reform, signalling the eagerness of the ADR to further solidify its position as a major party in national politics. However, on 1 May, Aly Jaerling left the party to sit as an independent in the Chamber of Deputies, complaining of the move away from campaigning for pensions.[13] As a result of Jaerling's departure, the party lost its status as a caucus and now only qualifies as a 'group', threatening its future security.[14]

On 29 May 2008, the ADR deputies and Jaerling were the only members not to vote for the Treaty of Lisbon. In the 2009 Chamber election, the ADR held on to four seats (of which, 2 in Sud), but with a reduced vote share of 8.1%: its worst legislative election result since its first election, in 1989, whilst its vote share fell - albeit by less - in the simultaneous European Parliament election, to 7.4%. Jaerling, running for his own Citizens' List, failed to win a seat in either. On 8 June 2010, the ADR joined the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, a Eurosceptic Europe-wide political party.

Ideology

The party was founded as a single-issue party, to introduce equality between private and public sector pensions. The focus on pension reform allowed it to make it the core campaign issue of all five elections in the first ten years of its formation.[15] By 1998, the party had forced the government to accede almost all of its demands.[16] However, this success has not thwarted the ADR,[16] and it has diversified its programme to cover all aspects of public policy.

The party is a supporter of economic liberalism, having positioned itself to fill a void left by the Democratic Party.[6] The party is critical of public sector waste and the 'elitist' nature of public spending projects.[5] The ADR is socially conservative. It is opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide.[17] The party places great importance on promoting the Luxembourgish language, and its electoral success in the 1999 election pushed the CSV-DP government to make knowledge of it a criterion for naturalisation.[18] It is opposed to multiple citizenship.[19]

The party is marked out from the other parties by being Eurosceptic,[20] sharing this position with only the far left,[21] and being the country's most sovereigntist party.[22] The leadership had supported the proposed European Constitution, endorsing it in the 2004 European election,[22] before changing its position in the spring of 2005 under pressure from party members.[23] In its criticism of the EU, the party puts emphasis on the democratic deficit and transparency.[21] However, in heavily pro-European Luxembourg, the ADR has always fared worse in European elections than on national elections, which are held on the same day.[24]

Political support

The ADR's primary political base are the CSV's 'traditional, rural and rightist' voters.[25] Although the ADR is seen to take votes from the right wing of the CSV,[26] more ADR voters declare themselves to be left-wing than either the CSV or DP.[27] Much of the party's support is in the north of the country,[28] where the ADR received its strongest support (10.3%) in the 2009 Chamber election.

Due to the party's original purpose of pension equality, the party's electoral base is pensioners. However, disproportionately many people under the age of 24 also see the ADR in a positive light.[29] ADR is particularly popular on the Internet, despite the party leadership's lack of interest in the medium, due in part to its popularity amongst young people.[30] The party is most popular amongst people earning less than €30,000,[28] and has attracted support from the part of the CSV's core electorate that have been left out of recent economic growth.[31] As with the CSV and LSAP, the ADR is supported by people with less education.[32]

The party is backed by the third-largest general trade union in the country, the small Neutral Union of Luxembourg Workers (NGL), which has been the driving force behind the ADR.[33] The ADR has also been close to the Luxembourg Association of Retired and Invalid People (LRIV), which formerly backed the Communist Party.[33] The party has used local celebrities, such as Jean-Pierre Koepp in Nord, to boost its appeal.[34]

Election results

Below are charts of the results that the ADR has secured in the Chamber of Deputies at each election. Timelines showing the number of seats and percentage of votes won are on the right.

Year Vote % Place Seats Place Cabinet
1989 7.9 4th 4 4th No
1994 9.0 Increase 5th 5 Increase 4th No
1999 11.3 Increase 4th Increase 7 Increase 4th No
2004 9.9 Decrease 5th Decrease 5 Decrease 5th Decrease No
2009 8.1 Decrease 5th 4 Decrease 5th No
2013 6.6 Decrease 5th 3 Decrease 5th No

Leaders

Party presidents

Elected representatives

Since its formation, the ADR has had eleven deputies in the Chamber of Deputies. Its three current deputies are given in bold.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 71
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dumont et al (2006), p. 67
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Immergut et al (2007), p. 36
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Immergut et al (2007), p. 838
  17. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 77
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 220
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Dumont et al (2006), p. 95
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Maier et al (2004), p. 144
  23. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 92
  24. ↑ Maier et al (2004), p. 143
  25. ↑ Van Hecke et al (2004), p. 180
  26. ↑ Van Hecke et al (2004), p. 182
  27. ↑ Van Hecke et al (2004), p. 187
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Dumont et al (2006), p. 124
  29. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 127–8
  30. ↑ Dumont et al (2006), p. 156
  31. ↑ Van Hecke et al (2004), p. 195
  32. ↑ Van Hecke et al (2004), p. 185
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Immergut et al (2007), p. 815
  34. ↑ Immergut et al (2007), p. 849

References

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External links

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