Poll shows support split for cabinet nominee
More than two-thirds of Swiss are against the return of rightwing People's Party figurehead Christoph Blocher to cabinet, a poll has found.
In the joint poll published on Sunday by the Matin Dimanche and SonntagsBlick newspapers, 67.8 per cent of respondents said they did not want Blocher to be re-elected, while 25.9 per cent were in favour of his return.
Blocher is among the candidates nominated to become a new People’s Party cabinet representative to replace outgoing Defence Minister Samuel Schmid. The party will choose a successor on November 27.
Parliament refused to re-elect him to cabinet last December, widening divisions within the party and leading some parliamentarians, including Schmid, to defect and form a new party.
Blocher has said he preferred not to stand but would step up if called upon by the party.
More than 50 per cent of those polled in the survey said Schmid’s vacant cabinet seat should once again be occupied by the People’s Party. Just over a quarter said the seat should go to the Green Party, and 13.5 per cent it should be taken up by the new Conservative Democrats.
The poll was carried out among 1,055 people from November 17-20.
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