The Swiss People’s Party, known for its anti-immigration stance, will achieve its best ever result in a national election, NZZ newspaper predicted. According to forecasts, the party, which is also called SVP by its German abbreviation, will receive 30.1% of the votes, a significant increase compared to 25.6% four years ago. This result exceeds the expectations of opinion polls before the elections. The final results will be announced later on Sunday.
For two decades, the Swiss People’s Party has been the most popular party in Switzerland. In this election campaign, domestic issues took center stage, and the party exploited voters’ concerns about immigration. According to the party’s proposal, the upper limit on Switzerland’s population should be set at 10 million people due to strained infrastructure and a housing shortage.
Pre-election polls and forecasts suggest the Social Democrats are likely to finish second, followed by the pro-business Liberal Democrats and the Centrum coalition. The two Swiss Green parties are expected to reverse their gains of four years ago.
Regardless, a change in the Swiss executive seems unlikely, as the seven-member government is not formed by a coalition or a clear majority, but by agreement between the larger parties. The ministers will be elected by lawmakers on December 13.
Across Europe, right-wing parties have been gaining momentum recently. The AfD has gained more and more support among voters in the regional elections, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni still enjoys high popularity indicators after one year in office. In Austria, which shares a border with Switzerland, the anti-immigration Freedom Party is leading according to public opinion polls for the 2024 elections.
The first more accurate forecast for parliamentary seats is expected to be issued at 6 p.m. local time.
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