(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
Deutsch
(de)
Die nicht mehr ganz so magische Formel für den Bundesrat
Italiano
(it)
Una formula non più così magica
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La formule plus si "magique" de la répartition des sièges du Conseil fédéral
2-2-2-1: This formula has been the basis for the distribution of seats in the federal Council among the four major Political parties of the country (Radical-Liberal Party, Swiss People's Party, the Centre, and Social Democratic Party) for over sixty years. Two seats are allocated to the three largest parties and one seat to the fourth largest party.
The“magic formula” has always included only the four largest parties in the country - with the exception of 2008, when the Swiss People's Party's Christoph Blocher was removed as Federal Councillor and the Conservative Democratic Party emerged. The then Federal Councillors Samuel Schmid and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (both formerly Swiss People's Party) also joined the Conservative Democratic Party.
However, according to the SBC electoral barometer conducted by the Sotomo Institute at the beginning of July, 58% of those surveyed wanted a new seat distribution within the government collegium, compared to 38% who were against this.
>>> Read a selection of articlesExternal link from all over Switzerland regarding the upcoming election of the Federal Council on December 13, 2023:
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Among the respondents, the idea of a new seat distribution found the most approval among supporters of the Greens (93% yes) and the Liberal Greens (80% yes). But a majority of the Social Democrat (76%) and the Centre (54%) voters also support the idea. Conversely, those close to the Swiss People's Party (51% no) and especially to the Radical-Liberal Party (75% no) oppose a change in the system.
Green parties in the starting blocks
The magic formula, which applied from 1959 to 2003, the“2-2-2-1” formula with two Social Democrat seats, two seats for the Centre, two seats for the Radical-Liberal Party and one seat for the Swiss People's Party, was replaced in 2003 by a formula with two seats for the Swiss People's Party and one seat for the Centre. However, this shift to the right must be put into perspective.
From 1999 and increasingly from 2007, a new political issue entered the political scene of Switzerland: the environment.
In the 2019 elections of parliament, the climate change issue reached its political peak: The two environment oriented parties, the Liberal Green Party and the Greens, achieved a combined 21% of the votes.
From four to six major parties
The Greens and the Liberal Green Party are aware of their new electoral strength and have recently started to flex their muscles.
“There is room for a Green and a Liberal Green Federal Councillor,” Liberal Green President Jürg Grossen said in August 2022; if both parties achieved more than 10% of the votes.
>>> Does the Swiss Federal Council require a change in its composition? Join the discussionExternal link on "dialogue", a multilingual offer by the SBC:
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And although the Greens fell below the 10% mark in the elections of October 22, 2023, they decided to send Fribourg's Gerhard Andrey into the race for the highest executive office in the country. It is a symbolic gesture intended to get people talking about the issue.
Centre in ambush
The Radical-Liberal Party and the Swiss People's Party are of the opinion that the recent federal election results justify an extension of the magic formula that has been in effect since 2003. The Centre agrees, albeit with some preconditions.
On November 11, the Centre President Gerhard Pfister sounded a warning to the two Federal Councillors of the Radical-Liberal Party. If they both stand for re-election, Pfister expects them to distance themselves from the“bloc politics” of the right-wing camp. In Pfister's view, the“right-wing pole” in the Federal Council has less legitimacy since this year's elections.
In the election day survey conducted by Sotomo on the weekend of the October elections, respondents were asked the question:“If the Radical-Liberal Party is overtaken by the Centre in the elections and drops from third place to the fourth largest faction, should it then give up one of its two seats in the Federal Council?” A majority of 60% of respondents were open to questioning the current composition of the Federal Council. However, the Radical-Liberal Party remains slightly ahead of the Centre in terms of voter strength, albeit by a slim margin (14.3% for the Radical-Liberal Party, 14.1% for the Centre).
The Centre party could therefore potentially claim a second seat in the Federal Council. However, these ambitions do not align with the party's current goals.
>>> Find out where you stand: you can compare your opinionExternal link with the answers to the Sotomo survey:
External Content What is dialogue?
The editorial offering aims to promote dialogue between the different regions of the country and the Swiss Abroad without language barriers. You find former debates here .
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Translated from French by Claire Micallef.
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