Swiss Review 6/2019

Swiss Review / November 2019 / No.6 3 Don’t worry, I will come to the federal elections of 20 October 2019 in amoment. But first I want to turn to the place where Swiss politics happens, the Fed- eral Palace itself. Did you know that the colour of its dome roof was originally a shimmering copper red when the building was completed in 1902? The cop- per slowly oxidised over four decades, gradually giv- ing the dome a turquoise-green patina. The artisans who carried out necessary renovations to the roof in 2007 used artificially aged copper to preserve the oxidised colour to which the nation had be- come so accustomed. Parliament itself will have a very different, distinctly green, appearance when it reopens for business, courtesy of the dramatic gains made by the country’s environmental parties at the ballot box. Superlatives are rare in Swiss politics, but we can use them now – this is a political shift of historic proportions. Never before in the last 100 years has a party gainedmore seats on election day than the Swiss Green Party. The resurgent Green Liberals also helped ensure this is the greenest parliament of all time. The political greenwave rolled inmuch faster than the pace of oxidation on the Federal Palace roof. The shiftbegan before ballot papers had even been printed, as the previous parliament came around to supporting green ideas that no one thought would have had a chance at the beginning of the legisla- tive term. For example, the National Council voted in favour of a climate tax on plane tickets this autumn. One year previously, the same National Coun- cil had vehemently opposed such a levy. Concerns surrounding the obvious impact of climate change have evidently hit home in Berne. The search for solutions is under way. Not interested in elections? Perhaps we can engage you with our take on the crisis besetting savers. The Swiss virtue of puttingmoney away for a rainy day is losing its lustre, because banks are barely paying interest anymore. Banks even charge savers fees for this zero-rate ignominy. Many in Switzer- land shudder at the prospect of negative interest. No one really knows what the antidote is. “Swiss Review” has no answer either. But we hope you will enjoy and maybe even be enriched by our dedicated feature on page 16. MARC LETTAU, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Editorial 5 Mailbag 8 Focus 2019 elections – a power shift of historic proportions 10 Knowledge Star-gazing in Switzerland’s first-ever dark-sky park 13 Society The poor and the marginalised locked up – Switzerland’s dark secret Record-low interest rates spell tough times for Swiss savers 18 Economy First decommissioning of a nuclear plant – energy costs are too high 20 Images 22 Politics 28 Culture Swiss end-of-year book tips – our recommended reading 30 OSA news 35 Notes from parliament 38 Top pick That laugh! Actress Lilo Pulver celebrates her 90 th birthday 39 News Switzerland’s exoplanet discoverers win the Nobel Prize Contents Green is the political colour Cover picture: The Federal Palace on election day, cartoon by Max Spring, Berne; www.maxspring.ch “Swiss Review”, the information magazine for the “Fifth Switzerland”, is published by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA).