Luxembourg rejects right to vote for foreigners
Print Edition
Luxembourgers yesterday rejected extending voting rights to foreigners, a move that would have been unprecedented in Europe and that could have expanded the electorate of the tiny but cosmopolitan grand duchy by as much as 50 percent.
With 82 percent of a referendum count completed, only about one in five voters supported allowing long-time foreign residents to vote in national elections, part of a modernizing agenda backed by liberal Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
Bettel had billed the referendum as a chance to boost the democratic credentials of the wealthy duchy, which is situated between Belgium, France and Germany.
A 鈥淵es鈥 vote would be 鈥渁 yes to more democracy, a yes for the youth, a yes for diversity,鈥 he said while campaigning on Saturday.
鈥淭here is no other European country where only 40 percent of the population elects its representatives,鈥 Bettel said ahead of the referendum, in which 244,382 people are eligible to vote.
About 46 percent of the country鈥檚 total population of 565,000 people are foreigners.
The referendum divided Luxembourgers, many of whom feared losing influence to foreigners.
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