Replacement election Basel-Stadt – SP victory in the second round was no walk in the park – News

Since the first round of voting on March 3, Mustafa Atici was the clear favorite to succeed the seat that became vacant with Beat Jans’ election to the Federal Council. This was for three reasons: At the time, the Social Democrat had clearly won the most votes despite competition from his own camp – a Green party – and had unexpectedly clearly distanced himself from challenger Luca Urgese from the FDP.

In addition, his party, the SP, is clearly the largest party in the city canton – and a seat that an SP man previously held has become vacant. And after the Green Party withdrew, he could hope for a unified left-green electorate.

Urgese sharpened his profile in duels

Nevertheless, the second round was not a walk in the park for Atici; The lead was smaller in the end. Atici sometimes had to accept criticism for evasive statements. And occasionally a certain skepticism became noticeable as to whether Basel-Stadt was really ready for a government councilor with a Turkish name and accent.

Above all, Urgese was able to make significant gains in just a few weeks of the election campaign; he sharpened his profile with clear positions. It also helped him that he no longer competed against several competitors or in conjunction with his liberal colleague and presidential candidate Conradin Cramer, but alone against Atici.

In addition, Urgese’s combined civil election workers put in a lot of effort – his camp was able to mobilize better. This civil cooperation, including the SVP, came about again for the first time in eight years.

Atici’s biography makes success historic

Despite the defeat, Urgese’s comeback in this replacement election should encourage Basel citizens to continue their alliance for the general election on October 20th. The common goal remains to regain the government majority that they lost 20 years ago.

With Atici, someone who only came to Switzerland as an adult made it into government office. This is still very rare in this country. And with its Kurdish roots, Atici’s success in Basel-Stadt is historic – and a signal to Switzerland.