Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Are elections being held where you live this year? Voters will be able to have their say on presidents and/or parliaments in eight of the world's ten most populous countries in 2024. Read on for a guide to the most significant elections – and what the outcomes could mean for Switzerland.
In the news: A chairlift rescue, a lack of progress for cyclists, and official condemnation of yesterday’s attacks in Iran.
- The Swiss air rescue service Rega has saved seven people and a dog trapped on a chairlift in Ticino, southern Switzerland. The crew lowered rescuers onto the chairlift who helped the passengers put on harnesses. They were then winched up onto the helicopter.
- The vast majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have done little or nothing to implement the law on cycle routes, according to Pro Velo. The law, which has been in force since January 1, 2023, imposes obligations and deadlines on the cantons.
- Switzerland has strongly condemned the attacks in Iran in which 84 people were killed and 284 injured. In a statement today, the foreign ministry in Bern said it was “appalled by the high number of deaths and injured people. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families”.
Some 4.5 billion people in almost 80 countries will decide the leadership of some of the world’s largest democracies this year. Here’s a look at some of the most significant elections and what the outcomes could mean for Switzerland.
More than twice as many people will be called to vote in 2024 than in 2023. Eight of the ten most populous countries in the world will hold elections. India alone is home to 1.4 billion people. In Pakistan, Indonesia, the United States, the 27 countries of the European Union, and (probably) Britain, hundreds of millions of people will be able to have their say in the next 12 months. The Economist has called 2024 “the biggest election year in history”.
However, as British playwright Tom Stoppard once pointed out, “it’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting”. Many of the elections taking place are not free and fair and are highly unlikely to have a meaningful influence on governments. You don’t need to be an experienced Kremlinologist to predict that Vladimir Putin, this year celebrating 25 years at the top in Russia, will be re-elected in March.
Then there’s artificial intelligence. What roll will AI play in the various elections? What steps are governments and political parties taking? AI has already fabricated scandals on Swiss politicians.
But maybe it’s too soon to get too pessimistic about a democratic crisis. “For all its swagger, its sense of historical momentum, the autocratic world is nowhere near to reversing the losses that it suffered in the second half of the 20th century,” writes Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times, providing some perspective. “Democracy is on a downward trajectory, no doubt, but so is a boxer who loses a round after winning six.”
Read my article, starting with elections in Taiwan next Saturday and ending with the big one: the presidential election in the United States on November 5.
Sports Minister Viola Amherd, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has decided on her strategy for a planned tennis match against Roger Federer: hope the tennis legend double-faults. A lot.
That’s the only chance of scoring points, she told the Coopzeitung newspaper. Amherd, 61, had been challenged to a tennis match by Federer at the Swiss Sport Awards in 2022. She told the paper she needed a bit of practice because since being elected to Switzerland’s seven-person government in 2018 she hadn’t had the time to play tennis. As her opponent is also very busy, it would be difficult to find a date at all, she added.
But Amherd, who is also defence minister, is by no means unathletic. There must always be time for skiing, said the native of mountainous canton Valais, explaining that she hadn’t missed a winter in 58 years. However, she admitted that she’s no longer quite as fast as she used to be. To maintain a minimum level of fitness, she said she regularly gets her heart rate up on her exercise bike.
Federer indirectly invited Amherd to a tennis match at the Swiss Sport Awards in Zurich in December 2022 , when Amherd presented him with an award.
Here’s an interesting portrait of Switzerland’s first female defence minister.
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