Swiss anti-immigration party forecast to gain 8 seats in parliamentary elections

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - The anti-immigration and conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) is expected to gain eight seats in the National Council, or lower chamber of parliament, according to the latest projections Sunday, further strengthening its standing in the legislature.

In percentage terms, the SVP is on track to win 29% of the vote, according to the polling institute GFS on behalf of the Swiss public broadcaster SRG, which would represent a gain of 3.4% compared to the 2019 polls.

"The trend says people are fed up with massive immigration and the asylum mess,” SVP leader Marco Chiesa told SRG.

According to the latest projection, the Social Democratic (SP) party is forecast to win 17.4% of the vote, a slight gain of 0.6%.

"We are of course pleased with the result. Nevertheless, I am concerned about the slide to the right that is emerging. This puts pressure on our issues of equality, purchasing power and climate protection," SP deputy Nadine Masshardt told SRG.

The liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) is expected to win 14.6% of the vote, down 0.5%, and the centrist Die Mitte party 14.3%, a slight gain of 0.8%.

The big losers in the election are the Greens, which are expected to only secure 9.2%, a loss of 4.4% compared to 2019.

"I am massively worried," Green Party President Balthasar Glattli told Blick TV.

The Green Liberal Party (GLP) is also expected to fare poorly with 7.1%, down 0.7%.

Whether the elections will have an impact on political decisions in the coming years remains to be seen.

Switzerland has been governed according to a "magic formula" since 1959. The three biggest parties receive two seats in the seven-member federal government and the fourth-largest party receives one seat.

The "magic formula" is intended to ensure proportional representation of all citizens and is an expression of a “concordance government,” which in turn is part of concordance democracy in Switzerland.

According to the latest figures from GFS, voter turnout is slightly higher at 46.7% compared to the 45.1% in 2019.