Current:Home > StocksThe Swiss are electing their parliament. Polls show right-wing populists, Socialists may fare well-LoTradeCoin
The Swiss are electing their parliament. Polls show right-wing populists, Socialists may fare well
View Date:2024-12-24 00:07:11
GENEVA (AP) — Swiss voters are casting final ballots Sunday to choose their next legislature, with polls pointing to a rebound for right-wing populist and Socialist parties, while Greens are expected to lose ground compared to the last such election four years ago.
The election of the 200-seat lower house, known as the National Council, and the 46-seat Council of States, the upper house, will set the tone for Swiss policy as the rich Alpine country adapts its self-image as a “neutral” country outside the European Union — but is nearly surrounded by it — and grapples with issues like climate change, rising health care costs and migration.
Final ballots will be collected Sunday morning after the vast majority of Swiss made their choices by mail-in voting.
The vote could indicate how another slice of Europe’s electorate is thinking about right-wing populist politics and the need to spend money and resources to fight global warming at a time of rising inflation that has pinched many pocketbooks — even in well-to-do Switzerland.
The main stakes, if pollsters turn out to be right, are whether two Green parties fare worse than they did in the last election in 2019, and whether the country’s newly created centrist alliance might land more seats in parliament’s lower house than the free-market party — boosting their position in the executive branch.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party has the most seats in parliament, with more than one-quarter of seats in the lower house, followed by the Socialists at 39.
A new formation calling itself “The Center” — born of the fusion in 2021 of center-right Christian Democrat and “Bourgeois Democrat” parties — is making its debut in a parliamentary vote, and could together eclipse the free-market Liberal party as the third-largest party in the lower house.
Polls suggest the Swiss have three main preoccupations in mind: rising fees for the obligatory, free market-based health insurance system; climate change, which has eroded Switzerland’s numerous glaciers; and worries about migrants and immigration.
The parliamentary vote is one of two main ways that Switzerland’s 8.5 million people guide their country. Another is through regular referendums — usually four times a year — on any number of policy decisions, which set guideposts that parliament must follow as it drafts and passes legislation.
veryGood! (61)
Related
- Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
- Tamra Judge Wore This Viral Lululemon Belt Bag on Real Housewives of Orange County
- India Is Now Investing More in Solar than Coal, but Will Its Energy Shift Continue?
- Q&A: A Sustainable Transportation Advocate Explains Why Bikes and Buses, Not Cars, Should Be the Norm
- Kim Kardashian Says She's Raising Her and Kanye West's 4 Kids By Herself
- Teen arrested in connection with Baltimore shooting that killed 2, injured 28
- Europe Seeks Solutions as it Grapples With Catastrophic Wildfires
- Billie Eilish Cheekily Responds to Her Bikini Photo Showing Off Chest Tattoo
- Bodyless head washes ashore on a South Florida beach
- Amy Schumer Trolls Sociopath Hilaria Baldwin Over Spanish Heritage Claims & von Trapp Amount of Kids
Ranking
- Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
- Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor Make Rare Red Carpet Appearance With 21-Year-Old Daughter Ella
- Close Coal Plants, Save Money: That’s an Indiana Utility’s Plan. The Coal Industry Wants to Stop It.
- State by State
- 'Squid Game' creator lost '8 or 9' teeth making Season 1, explains Season 2 twist
- Casey DeSantis pitches voters on husband Ron DeSantis as the parents candidate
- Miley Cyrus Loves Dolce Glow Self-Tanners So Much, She Invested in Them: Shop Her Faves Now
- After being accused of inappropriate conduct with minors, YouTube creator Colleen Ballinger played a ukulele in her apology video. The backlash continued.
Recommendation
-
Natural gas flares sparked 2 wildfires in North Dakota, state agency says
-
The Fed continues its crackdown on inflation, pushing up interest rates again
-
Katie Holmes Rocks Edgy Glam Look for Tribeca Film Festival 2023
-
Selling Sunset's Amanza Smith Shares Update on Massive Pain Amid Hospitalization
-
Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
-
How Johnny Depp Is Dividing Up His $1 Million Settlement From Amber Heard
-
Warming Trends: A Facebook Plan to Debunk Climate Myths, ‘Meltdown’ and a Sad Yeti
-
Elon Musk is using the Twitter Files to discredit foes and push conspiracy theories