In 2022, Switzerland’s major left-wing political parties voted the same way in parliament 94% of the time, writes the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
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SonntagsZeitung/SWI/dos
The paper totted up the results of almost 1,000 parliamentary decisions over the past year, as part of a “political party check-up” ahead of elections in October this year.
Meanwhile the two major parties on the right of the spectrum, the Radical-Liberals and the People’s Party, voted the same way “only” 58% of the time, the SonntagsZeitung writes.
As for outcomes, the Centre party was most successful in parliament – i.e. it was most often part of the majority – while the People’s Party, the biggest in the country, was least often on the winning side.
The Greens, who were the big winners in national elections four years ago, evolved over the course of the legislature from being parliament’s “protest” party to last year voting as part of the majority in 64% of cases.
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Election barometer: Switzerland remains an island of political stability
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Since the previous national elections, in 2019, public support for Switzerland’s biggest parties has remained steady, a poll shows.
With federal elections in October to be followed by the re-election of the seven-member government in December, there will surely also be debates this year about a re-jigging of the “magic formula” system which allocates ministers according to party strength, the paper writes.
The Greens are especially keen to break into the executive for the first time, something they have been claiming since their large gains four years ago.
The SonntagsZeitung reckons that its analysis shows a Green government seat should come at the expense of one of the two Social Democrat ministers, not one of the two Radical-Liberals or the sole Centre representative.
In a survey last October, a year out from elections, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company) found that the Liberal Greens were likely to make most gains, but that the overall party landscape would remain stable.
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Fresh faces, old formula: Swiss government gets new ministers
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Switzerland’s seven-member cabinet, which got two new members on Wednesday, is composed according to the ‘magic formula’ of political consensus.
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ETH Zurich remains best university in continental Europe
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Swiss universities have once again fallen slightly behind in international comparison. In the annual university rankings, they recorded slightly more losses than gains overall. However, three Swiss universities are among the 100 best in Europe.
Media poll shows shift to the right ahead of 2023 federal elections
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Centre-right parties are making slight gains while the Greens are losing ground, according to a new media poll ahead of the 2023 election.
Swiss elections: Landslide Green gains tip parliament to the left
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Green parties have made major gains at the expense of parties to the right and the left in elections to the Swiss parliament.
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