Summary of the day
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is expected to boost its position in this weekend’s election.
Polling by the Sotomo research institute shows the right-wing party is set to garner 28.1% of the vote – an increase of 2.5 percentage points over its previous standing.
Christian Imark, a member of the Swiss parliament from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, said that he believes the party can boost its share of the vote this weekend because “immigration, the energy security and the increase of energy cost” are “our main topics.”
Fabian Molina, a member of the Swiss parliament from the Social Democratic party, said that he believes that the cost of living – and in particular the cost of health insurance – ended up being the most important issues for voters in the campaign. “We will win back what we lost last time,” he said.
Margot Chauderna, a vice-president of the Swiss Green party and co-president of the Young Greens in Switzerland, said that “the climate is still a central concern” for Swiss voters.
Line Rennwald, a senior researcher at the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences, said that she expects a return to normal vote shares in this election and some policy shifts following the vote.
More readers weigh in
Renaud, a Swiss working in the EU, writes that “for me, the central question is Switzerland’s relation to Europe, which no party wants to discuss for now, as they all believe the question to be toxic.”
“It’s however unavoidable,” he added, “and I assume will be one of the central issues on the political agenda once that election has passed.”
Noel, a British-Swiss national, writes that “as often happens in Switzerland, a lot of voting will be based upon potential risk to the Swiss Franc in one’s pocket.”
“I found myself having to balance potential long term future needs for my family, my daughters (eg climate risks) versus the short term risk to tax increases etc. In Switzerland it will *always* come back to tax and financial implications.”
