GENEVA, Oct 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Green parties have made historic gains at the expense of those to the right and the left in elections to the Swiss parliament.
Final results show the left-wing Green Party winning 13% of the vote for the House of Representatives – up nearly 6% on 2015 and their best result ever. The centrist Liberal Greens also increased their share of the vote to 7.9% from 4.6%.
The right-wing People’s Party remains the largest group in the House ahead of the left-wing Social Democrats.
Overall, the left and the centre have gained ground, prompting speculation about a reshuffle of the multi-party government.
“People want a more environmentally-friendly policy and the result of the vote should also be reflected in the government,” said Green Party president, Regula Rytz.
The seven-member executive is currently made up of members of the main four parties, but not the Greens.
Environmental concerns dominated campaigns in the run-up to Sunday’s vote. Numerous street protests demanding action on climate change took place across the Switzerland over the past ten months.
The leading right-wing Swiss People’s Party and the left-wing Social Democrats lost voter support – down 3.6% and 2.2% respectively – compared with 2015.
The Greens have taken 28 House seats, more than doubling their representation and placing them ahead of the Christian Democrats and only one seat behind the Radicals.
The number of female parliamentarians has risen to 85 in the House, according to official results. That’s 10% more than in the outgoing parliament.
However, none of the more than 70 expatriate Swiss candidates was elected.
Turnout was just over 46%, according to pollsters, a decrease of nearly 3% on the previous elections in 2015.
In the elections to the 46-member SENATE, the Greens have won at least two seats, while the People’s Party and the Social Democrats lost at least one seat each, according to partial results.
Run-off elections will be held next month in 14 of the 26 cantons since candidates failed to win an absolute majority of votes.
The Christian Democrats and the Radicals traditionally hold a clear majority in the Senate. Under the parliamentary system in Switzerland, both chambers have equal powers.
The new parliament will meet for the first time at the beginning of December when it is due to elect the government for the next four years. — NNN-AGENCIES