Switzerland projected to shift to right in national elections
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Concerns about issues like immigration have trumped fears about climate change and melting glaciers.
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ZURICH – Switzerland looked set to shift to the right in its national elections on Sunday, as concerns about immigration and political correctness trumped fears about climate change and melting glaciers.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), Switzerland’s biggest political party, will increase its share of the vote to 29 per cent, 3.4 percentage points higher than at the last election in 2019, according to early projections by Swiss broadcaster SRF.
The party campaigned on a platform of preventing the country’s population – now at 8.7 million people – from exceeding 10 million.
It has also picked up votes from people concerned about the slowing economy and the rising cost of living, pollster GFS.Bern said.
Rising health costs also look set to benefit the left-wing Social Democrats. Switzerland’s second-biggest party is poised to increase its share by 0.4 percentage points of the vote to 17.2 per cent.
In contrast, the Greens are expected to see their share of the votes fall by 4.1 percentage points to 9.1 per cent.
The result is unlikely to change the make-up of Switzerland’s government, the Federal Council, where seven Cabinet positions are divided among the top four parties, according to their share of the vote.
“Four years ago, people were a bit more idealistic and progressive, which explained why the Greens did well, but now people are more concerned about security and are more conservative again,” said Mr Michael Hermann, a political analyst at pollster Sotomo.
“The SVP has done well because it has raised fears about ‘wokeness’ and also focused on migration again,” said Mr Hermann. REUTERS
