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Oct 21 2007

Poll boost for Swiss nationalists

Global

By Agencies

Violence erupted at an SVP rally in Bern on October 6 when police clashed with demonstrators [EPA]
The nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP) has consolidated its position as the biggest group in Switzerland's parliament, getting 28.8 per cent of the votes cast in Sunday's general elections.

Partial results provided by Swiss broadcaster SF showed the SVP's nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SP), slipping to 19.1 per cent.

The populist SVP's victory was widely expected after it ran a controversial campaign calling for the expulsion of foreigners who commit serious crimes.

The SVP caused uproar with a poster depicting a black sheep being kicked out of the country by white sheep.

The United Nations' expert on racism called for the poster to be withdrawn.

Aggressive campaign

The SVP's focus on crime and immigration has captured the headlines in recent weeks and its aggressive campaigning has broken with the consensual traditions of Swiss politics.

Anger spilled over into a riot during an SVP rally in Bern on October 6 when police clashed with demonstrators.

The virulent campaigning prompted Doris Leuthard, the Swiss economy minister, a Christian Democrat, to warn that it could frighten away foreign investors.

The Free Democrats (FDP) took 15.9 per cent of the vote in the alpine nation, a slight decline from 2003, while the centre-left, family-friendly Christian Democrats were steady at 14.6 per cent.

The Greens took 9.5 per cent of the vote, an increase of 1.8 percentage points.

Voters cast their ballots to fill 200 seats in the National Council, the lower house, on a proportional basis.

They also voted to elect 46 cantonal representatives to the Council of States, the upper house.