Rightwing Party Wins Swiss Poll

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 10-20-2003 | Alison Langley

[blam]

Rightwing party wins Swiss poll

Alison Langley in Zurich
Monday October 20, 2003
The Guardian (UM)

The rightwing Swiss People's party scored big gains in national elections yesterday, capturing 28% of the vote on an anti-immigrant platform and throwing into disarray the coalition government that has ruled Switzerland since 1959. It edged out the left-leaning Social Democrats to become the biggest party in the lower house of parliament, a Swiss television projection showed.

The Social Democrats took 24% of the vote, up 1.7 points, while the Greens won four more seats. Both centrist parties came under pressure, with the liberal Free Democrats at 16% and the Christian Democrats at 13%. Official results are due today.

The People's party president, Ueli Maurer, demanded a larger share in the governing four-party coalition, saying that the weakest of the other parties would have to give up its second seat to the People's party, which has one member in the seven-seat cabinet.

In a surprise move, he said the seat should go to the People's party's figurehead, the controversial businessman Christoph Blocher, or the party would quit the coalition and go into opposition.

[Dog Gone]

I don't know anything about Swiss politics, but "rightwing" political parties in Europe are generally about as conservative as our Democrats.

[Pikamax]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V1059.AP-Switzerland-Ele.html;COXnetJSessionID=1TXlkWmLnM2NA7JIwYBBPk8OWQO1wVlWu3T2VzQeyb26TlkaaViG!446400454?urac=n&urvf=10666208378330.1634697430098644


Nationalist Party Gains in Switzerland
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS
Associated Press Writer


GENEVA (AP)--The nationalist Swiss People's Party won the highest share of votes in parliamentary elections Sunday, state-owned Swiss television projected, after running a campaign that accused the government of being soft on crime and immigration.

If confirmed, the results could give the party a stronger voice in the seven-member Cabinet, which for decades has been delicately balanced between the Alpine country's four main parties.

Since 1959, the Cabinet has been divvied up with two seats each for the left-of-center Social Democrats and two other parties--and one seat for the Swiss People's Party.

After the projections from Sunday's voting, the head of the People's Party demanded his party be elevated to two seats and one of the other parties knocked down to one. ``There's no longer any doubt,'' Ueli Maurer said.

The two-chamber National Assembly elected Sunday, including the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States, will determine the makeup of the Cabinet Dec. 7.

The Swiss People's Party has been gaining strength in recent years, warning that cherished Swiss values of independence and neutrality are being lost and evoking a supposed golden age when Switzerland had less crime and fewer foreigners. Full-page newspaper ads by the party last week said, ``Certain ethnic groups dominate the criminal statistics,'' noting that rapes in Switzerland had risen by 70 percent and murders by 32 percent in recent years.

In Sunday's voting, the Swiss People's Party gained 11 seats in the National Council, the 200-seat lower house of parliament. That brings its total to 55, one more than the Social Democrats, the previous ruling party, which gained three seats in the voting.

The other two coalition partners--centrist and right of center _ each lost seats. The Radical Democrats lost six seats to stand at 37, while the Christian Democrats lost nine seats to 26.

The Greens--who currently are not in the Cabinet--also picked up four seats in the National Council, bringing them to 13.

Greens' Copresident Ruth Genner rejected the People's Party's claim to another cabinet seat and said, ``It's time for the party to be removed completely from the cabinet.''

The projected 27.7 percent of the vote won by the People's Party was the best showing by a Swiss party in 70 years. The Social Democrats received a projected 24.2 percent, a gain of 1.7 percent on its top rank in 1999.

The centrist parties in the coalition suffered losses. The Radical Democrats were in third place with a projected 16 percent, down from 19.9 percent four years ago. The Christian Democrats were in fourth with 12.9 percent, down from 15.9 percent.

Turnout in Swiss elections has been under 50 percent since the 1970s. It was 43.3 percent four years ago. The projections said 42.5 percent of the 4.7 million eligible Swiss voters participated in Sunday's balloting for the two-chamber National Assembly, which also includes the 46-seat Council of States.

The People's Party on Friday was rebuked by the United Nations refugee agency, which said it had placed ``some of the most nakedly anti-asylum advertisements by a major political party that we've seen in Europe to date.''

Ron Redmond, chief spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the party's advertisements used ``tricks'' typical of the ``the anti-asylum lobby,'' such as ``placing the word 'asylum-seeker' systematically and repeatedly in close conjunction with words such as 'terrorist,' 'criminal,' 'rape,' 'disease,' 'fraud,' 'bogus' and so on.''

Another advertisement claimed the other three parties were responsible for the demise of treasured Swiss attributes such as independence, direct democracy, security and banking secrecy.

Switzerland hosted many of the refugees from former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, and attempts to curb the number of asylum seekers has been a continuing theme as it has been in some other European countries.

But opinion surveys indicated that many Swiss voters are now more concerned about the sluggish economy, rising health insurance costs and moves to cut Swiss pensions and postpone retirement age for social security.

In the 1995 elections, the People's Party was still the smallest coalition partner, but it has made sizable gains in recent years.

The party opposed Switzerland's becoming a member of the United Nations and has rejected desires by other coalition parties to join the European Union. In the late 1990s, it accused the Swiss government of caving in to Jewish organizations seeking compensation from Swiss banks for families of Holocaust victims.


AP-NY-10-19-03 1840EDT

[nathanbedford]

The anti-immigration party is "rightwing" but the Greens are "centrist."

What is a Stalinist, a "progressive?"

[jocon307]

Good, hold on to it. We must keep chipping away to win our freedoms back.

Go SWISS!

[McGavin999]

The politicians just don't seem to get it. Maybe they can figure it out while on unemployment.

[GeronL]

what does 'right-wing' mean over there?

[July 4th]

Greens' Copresident Ruth Genner rejected the People's Party's claim to another cabinet seat and said, ``It's time for the party to be removed completely from the cabinet.''

Apparently news travels slowly to the brains of the Greens. The right-wing won, big! Jeez...

[KC_Conspirator]

I have seen many of these right-leaning parties win recent elections in Europe and I have to think it has to do with the anti-western left who has allowed unfettered immigration and socialism for the past years.

[Paleo Conservative]

I bet the staff at the Guardian is upset.

[FreeReign]

I don't know anything about Swiss politics, but "rightwing" political parties in Europe are generally about as conservative as our Democrats.

I wish our Democrats and Republicans were "rightwing" enough to support an anti-immigrant platform.

Appearently the Swiss rightwingers are.

[Jumper]

Conservatism is sweeping across Europe, country by country. Only lies saved Germany's Schroeder and France's Chiraq in last fall's national elections. Belgium is too far gone to have a chance with a 49/49 Flemish/French + 1-2% German makeup.... The Netherlands, Austria, Italy and the East Bloc nations are tilted to the right already and moving away from Leftist-Center-Mass. This is good news for US Foreign Relations.

[Consort]

[Brandon]

In Sunday's voting, the Swiss People's Party gained 11 seats in the National Council, the 200-seat lower house of parliament. That brings its total to 55, one more than the Social Democrats, the previous ruling party, which gained three seats in the voting.

The other two coalition partners--centrist and right of center _ each lost seats. The Radical Democrats lost six seats to stand at 37, while the Christian Democrats lost nine seats to 26.

The Greens--who currently are not in the Cabinet--also picked up four seats in the National Council, bringing them to 13.

Okay, so if I'm reading this right, we have three center/right parties:

People's Party: 55 seats
Radical Democrats: 37 seats
Christian Democrats: 26 seats

That seems to add up to 118 seats in a body with 200 members. Is there some reason that they can't form a center/right coalition and kick the leftists entirely out of the cabinet? I freely admit I know nothing about how the Swiss government works. Can anyone who does know offer comment?

[Int]

but "rightwing" political parties in Europe are generally about as conservative as our Democrats.

The "rightwing" SVP is a broad church - depending on what part of the country it is campaigning in. The SVP politics currently seen across the country is protectionist, for small govt, opposes entry in to the EU and wants a 100% block on immigration (although many individual SVP politicians will differ on these points). The party used to be farmers-based.

The governing coalition in Switzerland has 1 lefty party (The Socialists) and 2 'rightist' parties (The FDP, who are "classical liberals" AND the CVP - the Catholic party) as well as the SVP. Basically, of the seven seats of government, five lean to the right.

[Dog Gone]

Interesting. Based on that, I'd have to agree that the SVP is generally a conservative party.

I like good news like this in Europe. There's far too little of it.

[Int]

Is there some reason that they can't form a center/right coalition and kick the leftists entirely out of the cabinet?

The make-up of the cabinet has been the same since 1959. The structure is known as the "magic formula" because it has provided the country with stability for such a long time.

The thing to keep in mind is that politicians in Switzerland, as least in the past, were never supposed to really "rule" the country. Politicians were only supposed to make the basic minimum government tasks run smoothly. When it came to critical issue that had to be decided, the decision was- and still is- made directly by the People who vote in referendums (about 4 votes each year). Having a cabinet encompassing a broad spectrum is meant to result in a practical comprimise on issues. If that's not possible the people get the final say.

It's probably the only country where the leaders (or their policies) are still slaves to the people rather than the other way round. It's a fascinating situation.

[archy]

BBC report on the SVP advances in the Swiss elections *here.

-archy-/-