2023-10-22 22:49:22
The Swiss populist right has become the most voted force in the elections that took place this Sunday with 29% of the votes, a result well above the social democrats (17.4%) who must be content with second place. position. If in the elections held in 2019 the fight against climate change took up a large part of the electoral campaign, this time the priorities of the Swiss have changed radically.
The Center Democratic Union Party (UDC), the big winner of these elections after increasing its percentage of votes from 2019 by 3.4 points, has focused its campaign on the fight against illegal immigration and the so-called woke ideology. While the delicate situation in the Middle East raises fears of a new wave of Islamic terrorist attacks on European soil, high inflation has also hit the pockets of Swiss citizens, despite the fact that the country continues to be distinguished by its very low unemployment rate. only 2% and even its problems of labor shortage in certain sectors.
Although Switzerland is not part of the European Union, the UDC has criticized the fact that the country has joined the sanctions put in place against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, since for this party it means breaking the country’s traditional neutrality, which dates back to 1815. , when this condition was recognized at the Congress of Vienna. On February 28, 2022, Switzerland made a historic decision by freezing the assets of Vladimir Putin and other personalities linked to the Kremlin. Until that moment, it had joined the punishments carried out by the EU and the United States, but only partially. Afterwards, the Swiss country has been joining the different sanctions packages.
Analysts consider that these elections have been dominated by identity withdrawal and that the messages against illegal immigration are responsible for the success of the UDC. “The situation in Switzerland is serious, we have massive immigration, big problems with people seeking asylum. The situation in terms of security is not what it was before,” Thomas Aeschi, president of the UDC parliamentary group, told the AFP agency this Sunday. .
In these elections, the country that does not reach nine million inhabitants renews the 200 deputies of its National Council, the Lower House and the Senate. After the elections, parliamentarians will elect the members of the Government (Federal Council) on December 13, in which the four forces with the most votes will share the portfolios.
Tied in third place, with 14.6 percent of the votes each, are the Christian Democrats of the Center Alliance and the liberals of the Radical Liberal Party (PLR).
Within the chapter of losers, the green wave experienced in 2019 has not been repeated and the environmental party has had to settle for fifth position, which will make it impossible for it to sit in the Government. In June of this year, the country approved a law in a referendum so that net carbon dioxide emissions would be 0 in 2050. This drop in votes means having lost two thirds of the votes obtained in 2019. After knowing the first polls, the Vice-president of the Greens, Nicolas Walder, called them “a disappointment”.
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