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Swiss Politics

Switzerland votes

This content was published on Sep 15, 2003 On October 19, the Swiss elected a new House of Representatives and a majority of the Senate. Parliamentary elections take place every four years. The key issues during the election campaign, and those likely to dominate the next parliament, were the economy, pensions and health. The rightwing Swiss People’s Party won the largest share of…

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Switzerland set to expand trade with Libya

This content was published on Sep 12, 2003 The two countries are already important trading partners, with Switzerland currently importing most of its oil from the North African country. The head of the Swiss-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Elias Attia, believes Switzerland’s good relations with Libya will leave it well placed to win contracts. “I think Switzerland will have a good chance after the…

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Swiss Politics

Switzerland votes

This content was published on Sep 12, 2003 The key issues during the election campaign, and those likely to dominate the next parliament, are the economy, pensions and health. Since taking over the interior ministry in January, Pascal Couchepin of the Radical Party has broken taboos over healthcare and pensions – his most radical suggestion has been to raise the retirement age to…

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Radicals lag behind in the opinion polls

This content was published on Sep 12, 2003 But the centre-right party is lagging in the opinion polls and has an image problem with the electorate. Political analyst, Andreas Ladner, says the Radicals have had difficulty recovering from a bad start at the beginning of the year. They were forced to elect a new president, after the previous party boss became embroiled in…

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Swiss Politics

Centre-left stays with social justice

This content was published on Sep 12, 2003 It is aiming for some 25 per cent of the vote in October’s elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, to bolster its position in parliament. Hans-Jürg Fehr, a member of the House of Representatives and a party vice-president, says solidarity and social justice are two key values for the centre-left Social Democrats. “Take…

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Swiss Politics

Switzerland renews its parliament

This content was published on Sep 12, 2003 The elections – which take place on October 19 – are the most important event in the Swiss political calendar. Voters will go to the polls to elect an entirely new House of Representatives and the majority of the Senate. Unlike the United States or France, Switzerland has no presidential election, since the members of…

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Swiss Politics

Rightwing demands constituency for Swiss abroad

This content was published on Sep 11, 2003 But the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) says establishing a “virtual canton” would not provide expatriates with better parliamentary representation. The suggestion was one of many discussed at this year’s OSA congress held in the alpine resort of Crans Montana. Under the current system, the Swiss abroad who want to vote may do so…

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Swiss Politics

Zurich immigrants launch parliamentary bid

This content was published on Sep 11, 2003 Representing second-generation Swiss in particular, the “Second@s Plus” organisation is putting forward a list of parliamentary candidates, entirely composed of immigrants. In order to stand for election to parliament, all 33 people on the Second@s Plus list have to be Swiss nationals. However, none of them were born Swiss. With roots in China, Turkey, Somalia…

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Swiss Politics

Young Swiss urged to vote

This content was published on Sep 11, 2003 Faced with growing apathy, campaigners are hoping to persuade at least 30 per cent of young Swiss voters to cast their ballot. Just 26 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds turned out to vote in the 1999 general election. The “Vote Young” campaign hopes to improve the turnout this year. It was launched by the…

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Swiss Politics

Liberal Party

This content was published on Sep 10, 2003 Christine Wirz-von Planta, vice-president The Liberal Party is the successor to the “Liberal Democratic Party”, a rightwing splinter group which broke away from the Radicals in 1913. Its stronghold is in the Protestant cantons of French-speaking Switzerland and the city of Basel. Over the past 30 years the party has regularly gained up to three…

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