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Swiss Politics

Divisions remain over Switzerland’s newest canton

This content was published on Sep 24, 2003 For many people in canton Jura, the vote on September 24, 1978, was a great achievement – but relations with neighbouring canton Bern remain tense. At the time, an overwhelmingly number of voters – some 82 per cent of the country’s 25 cantons – approved the creation of canton Jura, which was formed from French-speaking…

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Parties shy away from EU debate

This content was published on Sep 24, 2003 Only the rightwing Swiss People’s Party – which like most voters is staunchly eurosceptic – is insisting that relations with Brussels are a major election issue. The People’s Party says the upcoming elections are also a vote on Switzerland’s future relations with the EU and it has challenged the other three main parties to declare…

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Swiss Politics

Transsexual wins right to stand for parliament

This content was published on Sep 19, 2003 The cantonal government overturned an earlier ruling that would have scuppered Brunner’s chances of running. Officially 27-year-old Brunner still appears on the electoral roll under her male name, Christian, and Zurich’s statistics office said she could only stand as a candidate using that name. But Brunner, who has lived as a woman for the last…

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Bern and Berlin find common ground

This content was published on Sep 19, 2003 On a visit to Bern, Schröder also said he supported a political solution to a row with Switzerland over noise pollution out of Zurich airport. He made the comments on Friday after talks with several cabinet members, including this year’s Swiss president, Pascal Couchepin. Schröder said it was in Germany’s interest to see Switzerland forge…

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Swiss Politics

Parliament grapples with spending cuts

This content was published on Sep 17, 2003 Parliamentarians are divided on the issue: some say the cuts are too severe, while others argue that they don’t go far enough. Switzerland’s national debt currently stands at SFr120 billion and the government expects this to grow by SFr3 billion a year. To stem the losses, the government has drafted a radical savings plan –…

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Swiss Politics

Cantons force vote on tax cuts

This content was published on Sep 16, 2003 This is the first time they have succeeded in calling a nationwide vote challenging a decision of parliament since 1874. On Tuesday, Vaud gave the referendum the green light by becoming the eighth canton to vote in favour of it. Eighty-nine of the 154 parliamentarians supported the referendum in the first reading, but the decision…

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Swiss Politics

Switzerland skirts around Taiwan question

This content was published on Sep 16, 2003 But Switzerland is likely to maintain a diplomatic silence on the issue in a bid to maintain good relations with both Beijing and Taipei. The UN General Committee is due to discuss a proposal put forward by 15 UN members that Taiwan’s status be given priority during the General Assembly’s 58th session, which opened on…

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Swiss Politics

Kaspar Villiger quits the cabinet

This content was published on Sep 16, 2003 The Radical Party politician – who served twice as president – headed up both the defence and later the finance ministry during his term in office. His successor will be elected by parliament in December. He was widely regarded as a competent and discreet member of government. Villiger’s resignation, which was announced on Tuesday by…

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Swiss Politics

swissinfo launches election website

This content was published on Sep 15, 2003 swissinfo is launching a special site to help readers get to grips with the most important event in the Swiss political calendar. Switzerland’s parliamentary elections take place every four years when the Swiss people elect a new House of Representatives and most of the Senate. And once again voters are spoilt for choice: there are…

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Swiss Politics

Rightwing looks west

This content was published on Sep 15, 2003 Of its 45 members in the House of Representatives, only three were elected in French-speaking cantons. The base of support for the party, which is leading in the opinion polls, is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. But political analyst Andreas Ladner expects the party to do well at the ballot box this time around…

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