2023-10-22 21:30:15
© Reuters.
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland appeared poised to consolidate a shift to the right in Sunday’s national elections, as concerns over issues such as immigration overtook fears about climate change and melting glaciers, although the election is unlikely to change the composition of the government Swiss.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), Switzerland’s largest political party, increased its vote share to 29%, 3.4 percentage points above the last election in 2019, according to the final projection from Swiss broadcaster SRF .
The party campaigned on a platform to prevent the country’s population – currently 8.7 million people – from exceeding 10 million.
“We have problems with immigration, illegal immigrants and problems with the security of energy supplies,” said SVP leader Marco Chiesa. “We are already experiencing chaos in terms of political asylum… A population of 10 million people in Switzerland is an issue that we really have to resolve.”
The expected result means that the SVP will increase its number of seats by eight, reaching 61, in the lower house of Parliament, which has 200 members in total, and increasing its presence in the House where no party has an absolute majority.
Rising healthcare costs also look set to benefit the left-wing Social Democrats (SP). Switzerland’s second largest party is expected to increase its share by 0.7 percentage points of the vote, reaching 17.4%, and reaching 40 seats.
On the other hand, the Greens are expected to see their performance drop by 4 percentage points, reaching 9% and losing six seats.
“The result means it will be harder for progressive issues or issues like the environment and sustainability,” said Cloe Jans of research agency GFS Bern. “Politicians will feel less external pressure to promote this agenda in the next four years following this result.”
The result is unlikely to change the composition of Switzerland’s government, the Federal Council, where seven ministerial positions are divided between the four main parties, according to their percentage of votes.
(By John Revill)
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