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Swiss lose faith in politicians

Swiss parliament
The public appear to losing faith with lawmakers in Switzerland - if a survey is anything to go by. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Confidence in politicians to deliver the best solutions has fallen dramatically, according to a survey of nearly 2,500 voters across Switzerland.

The latest edition of the Credit Suisse Worry BarometerExternal link, carried by polling institute gfs.bern, shows that 46% of those surveyed believe the government and parliament fail to come up with the best policies when it matters most. The number of people dissatisfied with political leadership has more than doubled in the past two years.

An overwhelming 83% feel that “the Federal Council [government] needs to do a better job of fulfilling its leadership role”.

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“The loss of confidence in politicians is notable and can likely be attributed to the scope of unresolved issues,” says Manuel Rybach, Global Head of Public Affairs and Policy at Credit Suisse.

“There is a desire for more solid solutions to the most important issues: pension provision, health insurance, migration, climate and Europe,” Lukas Golder, co-director of GfS Bern, told Swiss public broadcaster SRFExternal link.

The findings are based on a survey of 2,495 voters across Switzerland, conducted in July and August 2019.

Climate worries

A wide range of institutions have lost voter confidence, including the European Union (-20%), employee associations (-20%), political parties (-22%), employers’ associations (-23%), paid newspapers (-23%) and churches (-25%). The police were the only body to gain trust and are considered the nation’s most trusted institution.

Breaking concerns down to individual topics, the top two concerns are pensions (47% of respondents) and healthcare (41%), which stay in the same position as last year. Environmental protection and climate change (29%) rise to fourth place in the worry charts behind foreigners (down to 30% this year compared with 37% in 2018).

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In fifth place is unemployment, followed by personal safety. Concerns about personal safety increased more sharply than any other worry, rising by 11 percentage points.

But people disagreed that digitalisation would cost them their jobs – only 10% felt that their post would be automated by robots, new technologies or intelligent software within the next five years. Some 60% of respondents said digital technology would make their jobs easier or help them find jobs.

Two-thirds of respondents felt that technology improved their lives in general.

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