Elections City of Lucerne – Is the Lucerne city government younger, more female and more left-wing? -News
Contents
Lucerne will elect its local councilors on April 28th. Particularly hotly contested: the city council. There are 13 candidates for five seats.
On April 28th, the cards will be reshuffled in the canton of Lucerne: voters in 78 municipalities will re-elect their local councils. Over 400 candidates are at the start.
The biggest tussle is in the city of Lucerne: 13 men and women are vying for one of the five seats in the city government.
Two previous candidates are running again
There are currently two women and three men on the five-member committee. Their average age: 59 years.
SP, Greens, Green Liberals, Center and FDP each hold one seat. But only mayor Beat Züsli (SP) and finance director Franziska Bitzi (center) want to tackle further legislation.
These two previous ones want to know it again
1/2
Legend:
Beat Züsli, 60, SP
How should Lucerne use its financial cushion? What can be done about the housing shortage? And where should the touring cars go in the tourist town? Mayor Beat Züsli says about these hot spots: He is against lower taxes, doesn’t want car parking spaces in the center and wants the city to buy properties and thus create affordable living space.
Keystone/Philipp Schmidli
2/2
Legend:
Franziska Bitzi, 50, middle
The acting finance director is committed to a further tax cut and would like to accommodate touring cars outside the center in a parking garage or parking lot. In order to advance housing construction, she would like to reconsider faster approval procedures, fewer regulations and, if necessary, options for objection.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
Bitzi (50) is currently the youngest city councilor. The finance director has been in office since 2017 and is in a comfortable position: the city of Lucerne has been posting surpluses since 2014.
Beat Züsli (60) has been on the city council since 2016 – as education and cultural director, who also holds the city council. At the forefront, he wants to pave the way for the new Lucerne theater.
Legend:
On April 28th, new local councils will be elected in the city of Lucerne and other municipalities.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
While Züsli and Bitzi can expect to be re-elected thanks to the previous bonus – and in the absence of major political missteps – the race for the other candidates is not yet over.
Three seats are politically contested from all sides
Korintha Bärtsch (Greens) and Marco Baumann (FDP) have good electoral chances – based on the strengths of their parties. Bärtsch (39) is supposed to defend the seat of her outgoing party colleague Adrian Borgula. The environmental scientist is currently politicizing in the Lucerne cantonal parliament.
Meanwhile, Marco Baumann (32) wants to succeed his party colleague Martin Merki. The FDP man has been sitting in the city parliament since 2019. He is currently working on corporate strategy for an energy supplier.
The GLP also has a mandate to defend: Stefan Sägesser (60) would like to take the seat of the outgoing city councilor Manuela Jost. The city parliamentarian works as a freelance project manager in the areas of culture, society and education.
However, the seat of the GLP is the one that wobbles the most. Because: As the smallest political force in parliament, the GLP’s claim to seats is controversial. The mandate is therefore coming under pressure from left to right.
These established political minds are taking office again
1/6
Legend:
Korintha Bärtsch, 39, Green Party
The project manager in the area of spatial and environmental issues is against tax cuts. To solve the problem of touring cars, she suggests checking the Altstadt car park to see if they can accommodate them. And she thinks Lucerne should support housing cooperatives more, including with a portion of property gains taxes.
Keystone/Alexandra Wey
2/6
Legend:
Marco Baumann, 32, FDP
The corporate developer of an energy supplier is committed to lower taxes and would like to allow touring cars to be parked either in a parking garage in the center or near the motorway and to be driven using fees. For more living space, he would like to see faster approval procedures and more intensive cooperation with housing cooperatives.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
3/6
Legend:
Urban Frye, 62, unaffiliated
The cultural scientist and business economist wants to invest the surplus in education and integration, but can also imagine a tax cut. He wants to steer touring cars away from the center with mobility pricing and parking spaces outside the center. He wants to promote housing cooperatives, but also encourage investors to build housing.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
4/6
Legend:
Stefan Sägesser, 60, GLP
The freelance project manager in the areas of culture, society and education advocates lower taxes; The car problem should be solved with a new parking garage outside the center. And when it comes to housing construction, on the one hand he wants to promote cooperatives, but on the other hand he also wants to speed up building permits and review the right to object.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
5/6
Legend:
Melanie Setz, 44, SP
The administrative head of a hospital clinic is against tax cuts and would like to allow touring cars to be parked in parking lots in the agglomeration. She wants to support housing cooperatives, campaign against luxury renovations, but also seek discussions with property owners.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
6/6
Legend:
Peter With, 52, SVP
The entrepreneur advocates investments and lower taxes; When it comes to the car problem, he would either rely on a central parking garage or on parking spaces outside. When it comes to the issue of living space, he would also like to increasingly appeal to private investors.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
The SVP is running with Peter With (52). He runs a metal construction company and is president of the cantonal SME and trade association. With he would be the first SVP man in the Lucerne city government.
On the political opposite side is Melanie Setz, 44, cantonal councilor for the SP. She works as the administrative manager of a hospital clinic. If she were to win the election, the party would have dual representation for the first time. And: If the Green Bärtsch also clears the hurdle, there would be a left-green dominated city government with three women for the first time.
Three men look at the city council
Open the box Close the box
Beat Züsli (SP) would like to contest a third and final term as mayor. However, he faces competition: Both Stefan Sägesser (GLP) and Urban Frye (independent) are running for both city council and mayor.
Urban Frye (62) is the only non-party candidate entering the race. He was a member of the Green Party until the fall. The cultural scientist and business economist was involved in politics in the Lucerne cantonal parliament until recently. He is not officially supported by a single party.
The young parties are also getting involved
The three vacancies in the city government are also arousing desire among the young parties: with the exception of the Young SVP, everyone has jumped on the candidate carousel.
The five candidacies of the young parties
1/5
Legend:
Benedikt Aregger, 19, Young Middle
Benedikt Aregger is the youngest city council candidate and is studying economics. He serves as vice president of the Junge Mitte Stadt Lucerne. He is also running for city parliamentarian.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
2/5
Legend:
Anna-Lena Beck, 24, Young GLP
Anna-Lena Beck is a trained businesswoman. She is currently studying philosophy and economics. Beck is a member of the cantonal GLP board and is also a candidate for city parliament.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
3/5
Legend:
Julian Gerber, 25, Young Green Party
Julian Gerber studied social sciences and works at WWF. He has been co-president of the Young Greens Lucerne since 2022. He is also running for city parliament.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
4/5
Legend:
Anna-Sophia Player, 26, young liberal
Anna-Sophia Player is a lawyer and works as managing director of the FDP city of Lucerne. She is also running for city parliamentarian.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
5/5
Legend:
Zoé Stehlin, 27, Juso
Zoé Stehlin studies medicine and works at the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital. She is a member of the executive board of the cantonal SP. Stehlin is also running for city parliament.
Keystone/Urs Flüeler
Your election chances should remain manageable. But at least the quintet should ensure that young voters are also lured to the ballot box.
