in

Swiss election: green parties 'make historic gains' – BBC News, BBC News

Swiss election: green parties 'make historic gains' – BBC News, BBC News


        

                                 Swiss Green Party president MP Regula Rytz (2nd L) reacts with party members at their meeting place waiting for the first results during the general election in the Swiss capital, Bern.Image copyright                 AFP                                                       
Image caption                                    Green parties’ gains would make them a major player in Swiss politics                             

Green parties have made strong gains in Switzerland’s parliamentary election, according to initial projections.

The anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is set to win, despite losing at least 3% of its support.

But projections show a combined vote for the two green parties of around 20%, which would make them major players in Swiss politics.

Their gains reflect voters’ concerns over climate change, seen as the dominant issue in this election.

Not all votes have been counted yet but the national broadcaster projected the Green Party’s share surged 5.6 points to 12 .7% of the vote, while the smaller, more centrist Green Liberal Party (GLP) garnered 7.6%.

The Green Party looked set to overtake one of the parties in the coalition government, the Christian Democrats (CVP), and could for the first time get a seat in the coalition that governs Switzerland.

“It is not a green wave, it is a tsunami, a hurricane,” deputy party leader Celina Vara told Swiss radio.

The center-left Socialists looked set to take second place with 16. 5% of the votes, and the center-right Liberals (FDP) were on track to come in third with 15 .2%.

If the two Green parties are able to overcome policy differences and unite, they would represent a potent political force.

As is usual in Switzerland, no single party is expected to secure a majority.

For decades, the seven-seat Federal Council has been dominated by the same four main parties: the SVP, the Social Democrats , the FDP liberals and the CVP, says the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

The SVP, which is set to remain the largest party in parliament, has campaigned for over a decade on two key messages: restrictions on immigration and asylum seekers, and limiting non-EU member Switzerland’s ties with Brussels.

But these issues were scarcely mentioned in the election campaign, and climate change dominated as the single most important issue.

Green party poster in Berlin, May 2019

Getty Images

How are Greens doing in Europe?

  • 74out of (seats in European Parliament

    ) ***********************

  • (*****************************************************************. 5%of German vote in May 2019 Euro elections

  • 16%in Finnish European vote

  • 13 .5%in French EU vote

  • 14%in Austrian election on (September) ******

Source: EP / ORF

All year, climate strikes have been taking place in the country, culminating in a huge rally in Bern in September that drew 100, 000 people.

The Swiss have only to look up to see the effects of climate change: the Alpine glaciers are melting, and rock and mud slides are threatening mountain communities, our correspondent says.

                                                                                                      Image copyright                 Getty Images                                                      
Image caption                                    Climate change could cause the biggest glacier in the Alps, the Aletsch in Switzerland, to vanish by the end of the century                             

But the election campaign was about more than just a rise in support for green parties.

A record 40% of candidates for the national council were women (as were more than a third of those standing for the second house, the chamber of states).

In June this year,hundreds of thousands of women across Switzerland took to the streets to call for equal pay and conditions, and an end to discrimination.

            

Media playback is unsupported on your device

      

               

    

Media captionSocialist MP Flavia Wasserfallen told Imogen Foulkes in June why women were taking to the streets

Brave Browser
Read More
Payeer

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings

Florida man arrested in beating death of peeping Tom – NBC News, NBC News

Florida man arrested in beating death of peeping Tom – NBC News, NBC News

The Hundred: How the 15-man squads shape up after draft – Sky Sports, Skysports.com

The Hundred: How the 15-man squads shape up after draft – Sky Sports, Skysports.com