| Country: | Luxembourg |
| Communist Party of Luxembourg | |
| Native Name: | Kommunistesch Partei vu Lëtzebuerg |
| Leader: | [1] |
| Foundation: | 2 January 1921 |
| Split: | Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party |
| Headquarters: | 3, rue Zénon Bernard Esch-sur-Alzette |
| Newspaper: | Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek |
| Position: | Far-left |
| Ideology: | Communism Marxism–Leninism Hard Euroscepticism |
| International: | IMCWP |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Deputies |
| Seats2 Title: | European Parliament |
| Seats3 Title: | Local councils |
| Colours: | Red |
The Communist Party of Luxembourg (lb|Kommunistesch Partei vu Lëtzebuerg; fr|Parti Communiste Luxembourgeois; de|Kommunistische Partei Luxemburgs; KPL or PCL) is a communist party in Luxembourg. is the current chairman of the party.[2]
The KPL was founded on 2 January 1921, in the town of Niederkorn, making it one of the oldest parties in Luxembourg. In 1937, the Bech government attempted to introduce the so-called Maulkuerfgesetz ("Muzzle law") which would have banned the party. The law was abandoned after failing to achieve popular support in a national referendum.
Following the end of the Second World War, the party, which won 11.1% in the legislative elections, joined the National Union Government (1945–47). Its first minister was Charles Marx. After Marx's death in a 1946 car accident, he was replaced by Dominique Urbany. After the death of the leader of the LSAP, the coalition collapsed. With the principle of an all-inclusive government gone, the KPL was excluded from the next government and never returned another member to the cabinet.
In 1964, the United States State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 500.[3] In legislative elections held in the same year, the party registered 10.4% of the vote, and won five of the Chamber of Deputies' 56 seats. The party's representation in the Chamber peaked at the following election, with six deputies, but fell, until the KPL lost its last remaining deputy in 1994. In the same year a minority opposing the Marxist-Leninist line of the party split and founded the New Left (lb|Nei Lénk) together with the rest of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (lb|Revolutionär Sozialistesch Partei).
In 1999, the KPL and the New Left agreed to found The Left (lb|Déi Lénk). The Left had members of both parties and independents. Accordingly, KPL members ran on The Left lists in the 1999 and 2000 elections and no separate KPL lists existed. After disputes between a majority within the Left and leading KPL members shortly before the 2004 elections the party again ran separate lists. A number of the Left members were subsequently expelled from the KPL.
The KPL is represented locally on the councils of Differdange and Rumelange. In Rumelange, it is part of the ruling coalition together with the LSAP.[4]
| Year | Votes | % | Elected seats | Seats after | +/– | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 6,976 | 1.0 (#5) | New | ||||
| 1925 | 15,443 | 0.9 (#11) | 0 | ||||
| 1928 | Did not participate | 0 | |||||
| 1931 | 6,264 | 0.7 (#8) | 0 | ||||
| 1934 | 70,940 | 5.2 (#4) | 1 | ||||
| 1937 | Did not participate | 1 | |||||
| 1945 | 295,701 | 11.1 (#4) | 5 | ||||
| 1948 | 195,956 | 14.3 (#3) | 0 | ||||
| 1951 | 35,662 | 3.2 (#4) | 1 | ||||
| 1954 | 211,171 | 7.3 (#4) | 1 | ||||
| 1959 | 220,425 | 7.2 (#4) | 0 | ||||
| 1964 | 330,909 | 10.4 (#3) | 2 | ||||
| 1968 | 402,610 | 13.1 (#4) | 1 | ||||
| 1974 | 314,635 | 8.8 (#4) | 1 | ||||
| 1979 | 177,286 | 4.9 (#5) | 3 | ||||
| 1984 | 165,960 | 4.4 (#5) | 0 | ||||
| 1989 | 157,608 | 4.4 (#5) | 1 | ||||
| 1994 | 57,646 | 1.7 (#7) | 1 | ||||
| 1999 | 110,274 | 3.3 (#6) | 1 | ||||
| 2004 | 35,524 | 0.9 (#7) | 1 | ||||
| 2009 | 49,108 | 1.4 (#7) | 0 | ||||
| 2013 | 53,669 | 1.6 (#8) | 0 | ||||
| 2018 | 44,916 | 1.3 (#8) | 0 | ||||
| 2023 | 24,275 | 0.6 (#10) | 0 | ||||
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| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | René Urbany | 48,813 | 5.01 (#5) | New | – | |
| 1984 | 40,395 | 4.08 (#5) | 0 | |||
| 1989 | 46,791 | 4.71 (#5) | 0 | |||
| 1994 | Aloyse Bisdorff | 16,559 | 1.63 (#7) | 0 | ||
| 1999 | Did not contest | 0 | ||||
| 2004 | Zénon Bernard | 12,800 | 1.17 (#7) | 0 | ||
| 2009 | Ali Ruckert | 17,304 | 1.54 (#7) | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 17,506 | 1.49 (#0) | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 14,323 | 1.14 (#9) | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 13,368 | 0.97 (#10) | 0 | |||