Greens are biggest winner on cantonal scene

Keystone

The Green Party has made the largest gains in cantonal elections since 2004, in contrast to the ebbing fortunes of the centre-right Radicals and Christian Democrats.

During the past three years, the Greens have won 57 additional seats, bringing their overall tally to 190.

Their total share of seats in cantonal parliaments now stands at 7.24 per cent.

But the figures do not take the Zurich Green Liberals into account, who gained ten seats in weekend voting.

Political commentators, such as Michael Hermann from Zurich University, predict that the Greens will repeat their recent success in the federal elections later this year.

“Will the Greens also be a big winner in the national elections? It would be surprising if they are not because the trend is clear,” Hermann said.

One of the big losers on the political scene, the Radicals, had the largest number of seats in 2004 or 636, but over the years this figure has declined to 524 or 19.96 per cent.

The Christian Democrats have also experienced large losses. In three years, the party’s number of seats has gone down to 555 from 622.

Stable popularity

The country’s most popular party, the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, managed to hold on to its share of 560 seats, the same as in 2004, consolidating its position at 21.34 per cent.

Political analyst Andreas Ladner told swissinfo that the People’s Party had no cause for concern despite seeming to be stuck in a rut.

“A party cannot grow indefinitely,” Ladner said.

The centre-left Social Democrats still have 531 seats but had 577 in 2004. Their losses were mostly the Greens’ gains.

Ladner revealed that this left the Social Democrats in a far from enviable position.

“The party has to ask itself [which parties] it needs to work with… in Switzerland, politics are not decided by one party alone – alliances are necessary,” he stressed.

Since 2004, 24 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have held cantonal elections.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

The country is gearing up for federal elections this coming autumn.
Zurich was the latest canton to have held regional elections on April 15.
Switzerland has 26 cantons; each has its own parliament and government.