Front-runner emerges in race to lead Christian Democrats

Philipp Stähelin will have his work cut out to heal divisions within the party Keystone

The Thurgau senator, Philipp Stähelin, looks certain to succeed Adalbert Durrer as president of the Christian Democrats, one of the four parties in government. He was put forward as the most appropriate candidate by a working group set up to recommend a successor.

The head of the party’s working group, Peter Hess, announced that it was backing Stähelin, 57, at a press conference in Bern on Tuesday. Durrer’s successor is due to be formally chosen at a party meeting on May 12.

Hess also named a candidate to succeed one of the party’s vice-presidents, Rosmarie Zapfl, who is also stepping down. She announced her resignation days after Durrer said he would step down last month.

The 38-year-old Aargau parliamentarian, Doris Leuthard, has been chosen by the working group. The other vice-president, 59-year-old Francois Lachat from Jura, is likely to be re-elected on May 12.

Internal divisions

Stähelin belongs to the conservative wing of the party, and is likely to face a tough battle to revive the centre-right grouping, which is riven by splits between its more conservative and centrist wings.

Adrian Vatter, a political scientist at the University of Bern, told swissinfo after Durrer’s resignation that his successor would face an almost impossible task to bridge the divisions.

“[They need] to find a superman or superwoman who can lead this party. There are a lot of conflicts. We saw this in the recent debate over abortion, which showed how difficult it is for a party leader to bridge divides on these key issues.”

Under Durrer’s leadership, the party made a significant shift towards the right, exposing fault lines on issues such as the proposed legislation of abortion and the timetable for negotiations on Swiss membership of the European Union.

Durrer himself blamed internal party divisions for his surprise resignation after four years at its helm, and analysts agree that, unless a strong leader emerges to replace him, the splits are likely to widen, threatening the party’s long-term future.

But in the longer term, political analyst Adrian Vatter doubts the party has a future at all. He predicts that increasing numbers of disillusioned supporters will defect to other parties, and that eventually the two centre-right parties in government – the Christian Democrats and the Radicals – will give way to a new centrist grouping.

“I think we will eventually have only one big party – perhaps formed from a merger between the two centre parties.”

Part of the reason, he says, has to do with a changing political landscape, which threatens the existence of all parties with religious origins.

“Thirty or 40 years ago, if you were Catholic, you joined the Christian Democrats. Now, especially in the eastern part of Switzerland, many Catholics vote for the [rightwing] Swiss People’s Party. In a way, parties with religious origins have become obsolete.”

swissinfo with agencies