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On December 10, parliament handed a cabinet seat to Christoph Blocher – the figurehead of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party. Blocher’s election alters the balance of power in government.
The big losers are the Christian Democrats, who now have just one minister in government compared with two for each of the other main parties. They have been under pressure to relinquish one of their seats since their share of the popular vote dwindled to 14.4 per cent in parliamentary elections in October.
To understand the ins and outs of the cabinet election and its implications, swissinfo has compiled this “special” with news and background information.
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