Swiss Review 6/2019

Swiss Review / November 2019 / No.6 7 this about-turn. A poor showing from the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which railed consistently against “climate hys- teria”, shows what could have happened. The SVP lost as many as twelve seats but remains Switzerland’s strongest political party. These losses are not only due to the SVP’s at- tempt to ride out the climate debate, but are also down to the party’s key messages on migration and the EU falling on much less receptive ears than four years ago. Parliament has shifted only slightly to the left All four parties in government – SVP, FDP, CVP and SP – were punished at the ballot box. The SP, which sees itself as green by nature, was hit hard, evidently losing votes to par- ties that are green by name. Although theGreensmore than offset the SP’s losses with their emphatically left-wing so- cial policies, the upsurge of the Green Liberals means that the newparliament will primarily bemuch greener but not considerably more left-leaning. This could have a liberating effect on political discourse in Berne, as the bloc mentality of left and right wing loses significance. The combined green parties will constitute a third pole on environmental issues, while the centrist CVP, still a strong force despite election losses, will focus increas- ingly on striking compromises with the various power bases. Many more women in parliament Besides climate issues, the national women’s strike in June also had an impact on the election results. The proportion of women in the National Council has risen from 32 to 42 per cent – a sizeable contingent even by international standards. Never has the number of elected females in- creased as much since the introduction of women’s suf- frage in 1971 – a result not even the initiators of the Helve- tia is calling! women’s movement dared hope was possible (see page 8). Parliament is slightly more youthful Not only has Berne become decidedly greener, notably more feminine and a little bit more left-wing, but the aver- age age in parliament has also fallen. Many of the newly elected MPs are relatively young. This is partly down to first-time voters, who in post-election surveys expressed scant regard forwhat some of themore establishedNational Councillors may have accomplished in the past. A total of 30MPs of every political persuasion consequently lost their seats. These include prominent trade unionists such as Cor- rado Pardini (SP, canton of Berne) as well as the two linch- pins of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Jean-François Rime (SVP, canton of Fribourg) andHans-UlrichBigler (FDP, canton of Zurich). The Swiss Abroad doubled down It would be fair to say that voters in the “Fifth Switzerland” amplified the major trends in this election. Initial surveys showed they were particularly keen on the colour green. A quarter of all votes from abroad (25.2%) went to the Green Party, who consequently overtook former front runners, the SP (17.1 %), as well as the SVP (17.8%) to become the strongest party in the “Fifth Switzerland”. Incidentally, with e-voting unavailable, voter turnout among Swiss living abroad plummeted. In cantons that of- fered e-voting for the 2015 elections, the participation rate among Swiss Abroad fell by up to a third. Voting dropped from 31.8 to 21.4% in the canton of Geneva, from 32.1 to 23.4% in Lucerne, from 26.0 to 19.2% in Basel-Stadt, from 29.7 to 24.9% in Neuchâtel, and from 28.5 to 22.6% in Thur- gau. These figures are bound to reignite the debate on e-vot- ing. Green trend includes the Council of States At the time of going to press, the make-up of the Council of States was still undetermined. There will be a second round of voting in 14 cantons. Nevertheless, the elections to the small chamber can also be viewed as a clear success for the Green Party, regardless of the deciding ballot. Having already captured two seats courtesy of new face Céline Vara in Neuchâtel and Mathias Zopfi in Glarus, the party is well placed to win the run-off in at least four cantons (Berne, Basel-Landschaft, Geneva, Vaud). In particular, newcomer Mathias Zopfi caused a stir in the traditionally conservative canton of Glarus by winning his seat at the expense of the established SVP, which now has no representatives in Glarus. (MUL) Proportion of women in the National Council Male-to-female ratio WD 11:8 FR 3:4 OW 0:1 NW 1:0 UR 1:0 GL 1:0 GE 6:6 VS 8:0 TI 6:2 NE 4:0 BE 11:13 LU 5:4 ZG 2:1 SZ 3:1 SG 7:5 JU 2:0 SO 5:1 AG 9:7 ZH 19:16 BS 2:3 BL 2:5 SH 1:1 TG 3:3 AR 1:0 AI 1:0 GR 2:3 only men the same number of women mostly women only women mostly men 116:84 Proportion of women in the National Council Mathias Zopfi Glarus sensation – Green newcomer Zopfi ousted the SVP’s Werner Hösli from the Council of States. Regula Rytz The Bernese National Councillor brought home a double victory – one for the Greens and one for women. Corrado Pardini A generational shift claimed 30 casualties across the political spectrum, including trade unionist Pardini (SP, canton of Berne).