Political pressure builds on Swiss Abroad

Keystone

The new president of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) tells swissinfo why he welcomes political attention but resists overt politicisation.

Jacques-Simon Eggly, elected on Friday as president of the OSA, which is currently in congress in Geneva, acknowledges the organisation has an influence on Swiss politics but is wary of it turning into a “political battleground”.

Switzerland’s main political parties appear to be waking up to the potential of voters who live abroad. At present, almost one in ten Swiss – around 650,000 people – lives outside Switzerland, of which 111,000 are registered voters.

Of the 41 Swiss abroad standing for this October’s parliamentary elections, 33 are representing the rightwing Swiss People’s Party.

As for the centre-right parties, six have put their names forward for the Radicals and one for the Christian Democrats. The Green Party, Switzerland’s fifth-largest party, is fielding one candidate.

In 2003, just 17 people living abroad stood for election.

swissinfo: The political parties are battling to be better represented within the OSA. How do you explain this recent interest in your organisation and those whom it represents?

Jacques-Simon Eggly: Progress often results in knock-on effects that are difficult to control. Our organisation continues to stimulate the political participation of those Swiss living abroad and to push Switzerland to take an interest in its expatriates – including at a political and electoral level. We are therefore being repaid for our efforts.

The fact is that the main political parties have discovered that the Swiss abroad and the OSA count. This has prompted a number of proposals to give Swiss abroad seats in parliament. This is an issue we have thought long and hard over but which has become political, seeing as it is going to be discussed in parliament.

What’s more the OSA’s board, which comprises Swiss from inside and outside Switzerland, has been the subject of criticism and claims – for example that the centre-right Radical and Liberal parties are overrepresented.

One thing is certain: our organisation can’t get away from the political arena and these increasingly lively confrontations. But it’s necessary that its structure and functioning takes into account political diversity without becoming a political battlefield.

swissinfo: Are these pressures due to the fact that federal elections are just around the corner?

J.-S.E.: There is of course a desire to get involved with an organisation that can have a definite impact on sensitive issues such as Europe or foreigners.

The OSA is an influential group on the politics of Switzerland and a channel of privileged information regarding the Swiss abroad.

swissinfo: A community which is increasingly interested in politics…

J.-S.E.: Absolutely. That said, the number of voters is growing because the numbers of Swiss expatriates is. Many of them however are not interested in politics. Not all of the Swiss abroad who are registered to vote do so.

swissinfo: Some people are arguing for a better representation of expatriate Swiss within parliament. Will the current channels – the OSA and the parliamentary group – be sufficient?

J.-S.E.: Our provisional conclusion is that they will be. All the more so since we have just created a parliamentary group directly concerned with expatriate interests. But this demand for better representation is entirely legitimate – the question is how.

Given the time required to sit in parliament, those Swiss abroad who do so will no longer be abroad. They will also have to familiarise themselves with all sorts of dossiers on top of their main concerns.

swissinfo-interview: Frédéric Burnand in Geneva

85th Congress of the Swiss Abroad

This year’s theme is “Solidarity and commitment: the Swiss in humanitarian action”. Participants will hear addresses from Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger.

The congress also provides the main political parties with a platform to solicit votes, with elections two months away.

The senior body of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, the Council of the Swiss Abroad, will sit during the congress.

This “parliament”, which meets twice a year, comprises 160 representatives from abroad, as well as those from institutions and public life in Switzerland.

The Swiss abroad

At the end of last year there were 645,000 Swiss living abroad – 11.1% more than in 2000.

Almost a third of them are based in the European Union, mostly in France (171,732), Germany (72,384) and Italy (47,012).

Elsewhere in the world, 71,984 Swiss live in the United States, 36,374 in Canada, 21,291 in Australia, 15,061 in Argentina, 13,956 in Brazil, 12,011 in Israel and 8,821 in South Africa.