Swiss Greens Nearly Double Vote Share At Expense Of Hard-Right People's Party; Now #4 In Parliament
Switzerland’s Green parties appear to have made historic gains in parliamentary elections on Sunday as Swiss voters rebuked the country’s long-dominant right-wing party after a campaign dominated by fears of climate change.
Projections based on preliminary results for most of Switzerland’s cantons showed the left-wing Green Party and the Green Liberal Party had achieved significant gains in their share of the popular vote, winning enough parliamentary seats to become a significant force in the legislature.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which has focused largely on curbing immigration and Switzerland’s ties with the European Union, will remain the biggest party in Parliament. But in contrast to the rising fortunes of hard-right parties around Europe in recent years, it emerged as the biggest loser Sunday.
“It’s really spectacular,” said Pascal Sciarini, a political scientist at Geneva University. “We expected a Green wave but it’s a tsunami, almost.” The two Green parties nearly doubled their combined share of the popular vote from just short of 12 percent during the last election, in 2015, to nearly 21 percent, according to projections by gfs.bern, a research institute that closely monitors Switzerland’s elections and referendums. The results put the Green Party in position to hold 28 seats in the 200-member lower house of Parliament, making them the chamber’s fourth-biggest party. The Green Liberals are expected to gain nine seats, giving them 16. The left-wing Social Democratic Party, the second-biggest party in the chamber, is set to win 16.6 percent of votes.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/world/europe/switzerland-election.html
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