Elections 2023 – Elections are in nine months – this is how the parties are set up – News

With the new election year, the major parties are positioning themselves. They decide which issues they want to campaign for in the election campaign for the favor of the voters. The overview shows which goals the parties have set themselves and how realistic they are. The SRG election barometer from last October also shows the direction in which this can go:

SVP

In the last elections in 2019, the SVP was still the big loser. It lost 3.5 percentage points in terms of voter share, but remained the strongest force. The SVP would like to make up for the loss in the next elections. “The SVP wants to bring hundreds of thousands more voters to the ballot box compared to 2019,” says party Vice Marcel Dettling.

In the election campaign, the People’s Party is focusing primarily on immigration. «We have so many here who have no business being in Switzerland. There has been a sloppiness in recent years, »says the Schwyz SVP National Councilor Dettling. In addition, his party also wants to make climate protection an issue. The SVP recently announced that the referendum against the climate protection law had taken place.

According to the SRG election barometer from October 2022, contrary to the targets set, the proportion of voters is likely to increase only slightly. From the point of view of political geographer Michael Hermann, the SVP has to get enough people to the ballot box for a successful election. “The question is: will there be a topic by autumn that will mobilize people?”

Michael Herman

Political scientist, Sotomo Research Institute


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Michael Hermann is a geographer and political scientist. He is head of the Sotomo research institute, which conducted the survey for the SRF election barometer.

In the 2015 elections, migration with the wave of refugees at the time was a burning issue. “Now we live in a different time. With the Ukraine war, immigration took on a different character,” says Hermann. If the topic mobilizes, an election success is possible.

SP

Four years ago, the SP lost the elections. Their share of the vote fell by 2 percentage points to 16.8 percent. The party remained the second strongest force. “We want to gain voter shares and convince more people,” says Co-President Mattea Meyer. The eight seats in the Council of States are to be defended.

One focus of this election year for the SP is purchasing power. “So many people are currently struggling with rising health insurance premiums and rising rents,” emphasizes Meyer. The party wants to relieve the burden here, for example with an initiative on health insurance premiums. According to the co-presidium, two other key issues are better climate protection and better equality. In this regard, the SP is also working on popular initiatives.

With these issues, the party would actually be close to the population, says political geographer Hermann. “Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be easy for her in the elections.” He certifies that the SP has an image problem among the general public. “The SP seems to many rather radical and too ideological.”

That’s why many potential voters still don’t choose the SP, believes Hermann. “In order to be successful, the party has to improve its appearance and style in order to get closer to the people.”

FDP

The FDP was also one of the losers four years ago. The proportion of voters shrank by 1.3 percentage points to 15.1 percent. Now the party has got off to a good start. According to the SRG election barometer, she gains 1 percentage point.

When it comes to election campaign issues, the FDP relies on the classics: economic policy, pension provision and security policy. According to party president Thierry Burkart, the latter also includes security of supply and thus energy policy.

“Firstly, the FDP wants to gain ground in the elections,” explains Burkart, “and secondly, we want to overtake the SP as the second strongest party.” In fact, the election polls show that the FDP could come dangerously close to the SP.

“The FDP does not have such bad conditions, provided that economic issues become more important,” says political geographer Hermann. After the losses of 2019, the party has received a clearer direction under the new president. “I assume that the proportion of voters in the FDP will recover. Big profits are not realistic.”

Green

2019 was a “climate election”. The Green Party benefited from this. She increased her share of the vote from 7.1 to 13.2 percent and won 17 new seats in the National Council.

The situation is different this year: although climate change is still an issue, the topic is not dominant alongside the war in Ukraine, energy supply and inflation. Nevertheless, climate policy remains important for the Greens. Party President Balthasar Glättli has a clear goal for the elections in October: “We Greens want to be the third strongest party in Switzerland.”

Political geographer Hermann considers it unlikely that the Greens will overtake the center and the FDP, because the dynamics are different today than in 2019. “Although climate change is seen as a challenge and a problem, the voters have become accustomed and disillusioned to a certain extent.” , he says. In addition, climate policy is no longer attributed solely to the Greens. “The party can be happy if it performs as well as it did in the last election.”

center

The center actually expects the first national elections. Because in 2021 it emerged from the merger of the CVP and BDP. Both merger parties achieved voter shares of 11.4 and 2.4 percent respectively in 2019. With the merger, the “C” disappeared from the name and with it the apparently Christian tinge of the party.

Party President Gerhard Pfister hopes that the new name will make the party easier to access in the large cantons in the Central Plateau. At the same time, it must be possible not to lose in the home countries of the CVP, he said Epiphany aperitif in the center of Bern.

In the election campaign, the middle wants to rely fully on the middle class. Important topics in the election campaign are the health insurance premiums, the marriage penalty and the purchasing power of the middle class and the family. The party has also launched initiatives to manage these issues. The center hopes that it can benefit from the current crisis.

“We will gain new voters this year,” said Center President Pfister. From the point of view of political geographer Hermann, this could succeed, “but there is a risk that they will lose in the former CVP home countries.” The new party name, on the other hand, means more potential in more urban areas and villages in the Mittelland.

GLP

Like the Greens, the Green Liberals benefited from the “climate election” four years ago. They were able to more than double their number of seats in Parliament. The proportion of voters rose from 4.6 to 7.8 percent.

Of course, combating climate change is also a key issue at GLP. But when it comes to implementation, the party wants to differentiate itself from the Greens. “The difference is that we would like to do this with the economy, with technology, with innovation,” says party president Jürg Grossen. He doesn’t want to ban people.

“We want to break the 10 percent hurdle. And we also want to move into the Council of States,” says Grossen, explaining the goal for autumn. Political geographer Hermann does not believe that the GLP will clear the hurdle, but he believes it can make gains. “The party has not yet managed to gain a foothold in French-speaking Switzerland,” he explains the challenge.

Getting into the Council of States should also be difficult, as Hermann says. There would be a maximum of two seats per canton, and these are often decided among the pole parties. As a result, the GLP as a party between the blocs has few chances.

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