SWITZERLAND: The anti-immigrant right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) is on its way to becoming the strongest political party in Switzerland after making strong gains in weekend parliamentary elections.
The SVP looked likely to surpass the Social Democrats as polls closed last night, despite gains for both parties after a bitter election campaign marred by claims of racist election propaganda.
"The result looks outstanding for Switzerland," said Mr Christoph Blocher, the millionaire industrialist who heads the SVP. He said the result showed that voters wanted a change in Swiss politics and announced the SVP would be pushing for austerity measures to "cut away the fat" in government spending.
"The SVP is winning voters in all cantons, up to 8 per cent more," according to Mr Claude Longchamp, an election analyst with Swiss state television last night.
It was unclear whether the elections would have any immediate influence on the composition of the Swiss government, chosen by parliament since 1959 according to the power-sharing "magic formula". The current formula gives Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Radical Party two seats each and the People's Party one. Opinion polls before the election showed the SVP was certain to improve its existing 23.5 per cent vote share and could even replace the Social Democrats as the largest party.
Firm election figures are expected this morning. A good result could renew calls by the SVP for a second seat at next month's cabinet elections.
Even without a second cabinet seat, a shift to the right in Switzerland is likely to hit any moves to end Switzerland's self-imposed isolation at the heart of Europe.
"The process of integration with the EU would be delayed further and fiscal policy could become more conservative if the SVP gets significantly more influence or a second seat," Mr Christoph Fehr, an economist with Credit Suisse First Boston bank, said.
"All in all, the result doesn't suit me," said Mr Philipp Stähelin, president of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), one of the big losers of the election.
He blamed the poor showing on Switzerland's current economic crisis, which he said had polarised voters. He dismissed any changes to the "magic formula", saying it would be a "clear renunciation of the stability in the Swiss political landscape".
Despite a slight rise in turnout to 43.3 per cent, the country's 4.7 million voters took the results in their stride. No changes in the coalition cabinet will alter their right to have the final word on the direction of Swiss politics through regular referendums.
Still, the election campaign had its fair share of controversy, particularly after the SVP unveiled posters with slogans like: "The Swiss are increasingly becoming the negros". Another, reading "Our Dear Foreigners", featured police photos of Swiss criminals which the party claimed were all of foreign birth.
The anti-EU and anti-immigration party based its campaign on the assumption that, with a foreign population of 20 per cent, many Swiss are in favour of reducing the number of foreigners coming to the country.
On Friday, the UN's refugee agency attacked the SVP's "nakedly anti-asylum" campaign; the party hit back at the UN's "scandalous" interference in Swiss politics.
