2024 - Council of States Canton Bern - FDP-Hess withdraws - only if the Greens also give up

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Flavia Wasserfallen and Werner Salzmann could still make it in the first round. Under one condition.

In the Council of States elections in the canton of Bern, it is becoming apparent that Flavia Wasserfallen (SP) and Werner Salzmann (SVP) will make it to Stöckli after the first round of voting.

Because FDP candidate Sandra Hess is prepared to forego a second round of voting. “However, this requires that the Greens also withdraw their candidacy,” she wrote in a statement. This would eliminate the need to print and send 750,000 election envelopes, which would save costs of one million francs.

Legend:

FDP woman Sandra Hess (left) is ready to withdraw after the first round of voting. This would make Flavia Wasserfallen the new Berne Councilor of States.

Keystone/Alessandro della Valle

It is still unclear how Bernhard Pulver, the Green Party’s candidate for the Council of States, will react to the right’s offer. He told SRF that he could imagine a withdrawal, but didn’t want to get ahead of himself. The party leadership is meeting this evening.

Jürg Grossen (GLP), Lorenz Hess (center) and Marc Jost (EVP) were already eliminated from the race for the second round of voting on Monday morning.

Wasserfallen is “overwhelmed” by the result

Flavia Wasserfallen emphasized on Sunday evening that she was visible throughout the canton during the election campaign and that this contributed to the good result. “I’m overwhelmed and didn’t expect such a result,” she says in the SRF interview. She was obviously able to attract a lot of people with her work and her style.

Her toughest competitor, Werner Salzmann, was confident that he would win the election in the second round. He was “absolutely satisfied” with his result.

An analysis by cantonal editor Christian Liechti:
It becomes apparent what was generally expected: In the race for the two Council of States seats, the previous Werner Salzmann (SVP) and Flavia Wasserfallen (SP) are ahead. This is in line with the national trend of this election. It’s also not surprising because the two candidates have the backing of the parties with the most votes. Werner Salzmann was also able to benefit from the previous bonus.

It was already clear in the run-up to these elections that with 17 candidates, a second round of voting would be necessary. Because no one managed to achieve an absolute majority in the first round of voting.

The good performance of FDP candidate Sandra Hess is surprising. She can start the race in fourth place for the negotiations for the second round of voting. Because it can be assumed that the commoners will contest the second round of voting with her and Werner Salzmann.

Flavia Wasserfallen was able to overtake SVP-Salzmann in the urban Bern-Mittelland constituency: “Left-Green was able to mobilize very strongly in the city of Bern,” says political scientist Marc Bühlmann.