Swiss
elections: immigration fears set to boost rightwing populists
Europe’s
refugee crisis has polarised debate in Switzerland and is expected to
favour the rightwing parties in Sunday’s parliamentary elections
Agence France-Presse
Sunday 18 October
2015 03.55 BST
Switzerland votes
for a new parliament on Sunday, with the populist right expected to
strengthen its already dominant position amid concerns over migrants
and asylum rules.
The latest surveys
suggest Switzerland’s main party, the rightwing anti-immigration
Swiss People’s Party (SVP), will make gains and possibly tip the
scale in parliament towards a slight centre-right majority.
The expected shift
comes as surging numbers of migrants and refugees moving through
Europe have heightened the focus on the issue in Switzerland, even
though the wealthy Alpine nation has yet to be significantly affected
by the crisis.
About a quarter of
Switzerland’s eight million inhabitants are foreign nationals, and
immigration and asylum policies tend to figure among voters’ top
concerns.
But the latest
survey from the gfs.bern polling institute showed that 48% of those
questioned thought migration was the most important issue facing the
country.
Only 9% chose the
runner-up issue – Switzerland’s relationship with the European
Union – as the most important.
Ties with the EU
were badly hit by a narrow Swiss popular vote in February 2014,
championed by the SVP, in favour of restricting immigration from the
bloc.
SVP, the most
visible party on both the top issues, hit 28% support in the latest
poll – up from the 26.6% it managed in the 2011 election and close
to the record high 28.9% it won in 2007.
The Socialists,
Switzerland’s second largest party, are also expected to inch up
slightly from the 18.7% of the vote they won four years ago.
The centre-right
Liberals, in third place, are also seen gaining ground from the 15.1%
they took in 2011, at the expense of the Christian Democrats, the
Greens and other smaller parties in the house.
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Polling stations
will open at different times across the country and stay open for
just a few hours, closing by noon (1000 GMT), as most Swiss vote in
advance by post or online.
In all, 246 seats
are up for grabs – 200 in the lower chamber and the remainder in
the upper chamber.
Power-sharing and
consensus rule are the norm in Switzerland and elections rarely lead
to major shifts in parliament or the makeup of the government, which
does not directly reflect the power balance in the house.
And Switzerland’s
famous system of direct democracy allows citizens to voice their
opinions on a large range of issues every few months, downplaying the
importance of the parliamentary vote.
That is usually
reflected in voter turnout, which has not passed 50% in legislative
elections since 1975.
Early voting turnout
so far has been mixed across Switzerland’s 26 cantons, and experts
have predicted a slightly lower participation rate than four years
ago, when 49.1% of the country’s some five million eligible voters
cast their ballot.
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