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POLITICS

Swiss hard right crowns farmer as new leader

The hard-right Swiss People's Party, Switzerland's biggest political party, on Saturday anointed as its new leader hill farmer Marcel Dettling, a hardliner on asylum and immigration.

Published: 24 March 2024 10:19 CET
A picture taken on October 17, 2023, shows a cyclist pushing her bike past an electoral poster of candidates of the Swiss People's Party (SVP UDC) in Aarberg ahead of the 2023 Swiss federal elections.
A picture taken on October 17, 2023, shows a cyclist pushing her bike past an electoral poster of candidates of the Swiss People's Party (SVP UDC) in Aarberg ahead of the 2023 Swiss federal elections. Marcel Dettling was appointed the new leader of the hard-right party on Saturday.(Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The lawmaker was unanimously elected at a party conference in Langenthal, northern Switzerland. He was the only candidate to stand for the leadership of the SVP, which comfortably topped the Swiss general election in October.

Dettling, 43, had been the election campaign manager and a party vice president.

Dettling is a member of the National Council lower house of parliament, representing the central Schwyz canton, and has served as party vice president.

“We will continue to defend our freedom and independence in the future and will not allow ourselves to be bullied by foreign rulers,” he said.

On the question of closer ties with the neighbouring European Union, he added: “In Switzerland, it is the people who govern, and not bureaucrats in Brussels.”

The SVP has come a long way from its roots as a farmers’ party in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

It became a national force focused on opposition to mass immigration, to closer ties with the EU, and to the abandonment of Swiss neutrality.

Dettling is considered on the harder wing of the party on immigration. His parliamentary interventions typically concern asylum and agriculture.

Outgoing leader Marco Chiesa had decided not to stand again at the end of his term.

Chiesa has led the SVP since August 2020 and in October 2023 took the party to the third-best result in its history, winning 28 percent of the vote and nine more seats in the National Council.

The SVP’s election campaign had focused on the fight against “mass immigration” and the prospect of the Swiss population –currently 8.8. million — reaching 10 million.

It also launched a war on “cancel culture” and what it called “gender terror and woke madness”.

Delegates gave Chiesa a standing ovation on Saturday.

The seven seats in the Swiss government are shared out 2-2-2-1 among the four largest parties. The government, or Federal Council, takes its decisions by consensus and collective responsibility.

The SVP’s two government members are Economy Minister Guy Parmelin and Environment Minister Albert Rosti.

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POLITICS

What are Switzerland’s top priorities for the coming year?

The year 2024 is not finished yet, but the Swiss government has already set its “concrete and quantifiable objectives” for next year. What are they?

Published: 19 September 2024 13:55 CEST
What are Switzerland’s top priorities for the coming year?

On Wednesday September 18th, president Viola Amherd unveiled the Federal Council’s goals for 2025.

“In 2025, the focus will be on bilateral relations with the European Union, social policy, and continuing reforms in the healthcare sector,” the Federal Council announced in a press release.

All these issues are likely to have at least some impact on Switzerland’s population, including foreign residents.

Let’s have a closer look at these priorities.

EU-Swiss relations

After Bern walked out of its negotiations with Brussels in May 2021, and following a nearly three-year ‘cooling off’ period, the two parties resumed their talks in March of 2024.

The currently on-going negotiations aim, according to  the European Commission, “at ensuring a level playing field for competition between EU and Swiss companies operating within the EU internal market and guarantee the protection of the rights of EU citizens working in Switzerland, including non-discrimination between citizens of different Member States.” 

So if you are a citizen of any European Union state, the outcome of these talks will impact you — hopefully in a positive way.

Social policy

This will relate to the country’s state pension scheme /AHV / AVS), which includes the funding and implementation in 2026 of the 13th pension — a move that will affect both the retired and the still active workforce.

READ ALSO: How much will the 13th pension payment in Switzerland cost you? 

Healthcare reforms

This is not a new issue for Switzerland — on the contrary, the government has been trying cut the soaring costs of the health system for years.

The challenge it has is to curb the spending without cutting — or scraping altogether — various benefits currently covered by the obligatory health insurance scheme.

No concrete results that are acceptable to everyone have yet been found, so the Federal Council will continue this task in 2025.

These are the main challenges the government will tackle next year, but it has listed other ‘to-do’ tasks as well

They are:

  • To “sustainably secure its prosperity and seize the opportunities offered by digital technology”
  • To promote national and intergenerational cohesion
  • To ensure security, working towards peace and acting consistently and reliably internationally
  • To protect the climate and care for natural resources

Also on next year’s government agenda: to decide whether to further extend the special ‘S’ refugee status for people from Ukraine, which expires in March 2026. 

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