Swiss election sees nationalist party lose share of votes

Swiss People’s Party projected to suffer drop in support, but still expected to be the largest party in government Swiss voters backed moderate forces in a general election on Sunday in which nationalists failed in their effort to break through the 30% barrier with a campaign heavy on anti-immigrant sentiment. The nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) was projected to take 25.9% of the vote for the lower house, a drop of 3 percentage points on four years ago, according to public television station SF. It is the first time in 20 years that the SVP has failed to increase its share of the vote. In second place, the centre-left Social Democrats are expected to win 18.9% of the vote, 0.6 percentage points below their 2007 showing, though they were set to increase by one their number of seats in parliament “We didn’t achieve our election goal,” SVP president Toni Brunner conceded as results trickled in. The party’s rise was stalled by the Conservative Democratic Party, whose members split from the SVP in 2007, and the centrist Green Liberal Party, which successfully rode a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment following the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant in March. Both are expected to receive about 5.3% of the vote for the 200-seat national council. Voters are also deciding on 45 of 46 seats for the upper house, or council of states. The BDP, founded to support popular finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf after she was expelled from the SVP, also ate into the traditional parties’ share of the vote. The panoply of political parties in Switzerland results in intense haggling after every election, as each group demands fair representation in the country’s cross-party government. The result is a unique “magic formula,” designed to condense complex electoral results into a seven-member cabinet capable of governing by consensus in spite of their differing views. Despite its worse-than-expected result, the SVP retains the biggest share of the vote and immediately laid claim to two cabinet seats. The party has built up a strong base of voters with campaigns warning of immigrants spoiling a country that has been an oasis of relative stability within stormy Europe. The SVP has won referendums in recent years to ban the building of new minarets and to expel immigrants convicted of serious crimes, but its policies have angered some Swiss people. In one incident, the party mascot, a goat named Zottel, was kidnapped and painted black in protest against the party’s anti-immigration stance. In its campaign, the SVP accused foreigners, who make up about 22%t of the 7.9 million population, of driving up Switzerland’s crime rate and called for those convicted of crimes to be deported. It also wants to reintroduce quotas on immigration from the 27 countries of the European Union, of which Switzerland is not a member, illustrating the point with striking posters of black boots stamping on the Swiss flag with the message “stop mass immigration.” Daniel Boschler, assistant professor in comparative politics at Zurich University, said the SVP’s election campaign had focused less on migration than in previous years. “Immigration is still a really important concern, and they’re still the strongest party. But there is no discussion on the EU and immigration at this time.” The number of foreigners living in Switzerland rose to 1.7 million over the past year. Along with Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, it has one of the highest proportions of foreigners in Europe. The seven-seat, multi-party cabinet will be selected by parliament on 14 December. Switzerland Europe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.