Swiss Federal Elections 2011

Every four years Switzerland elects a new Parliament. Yesterday, the Swiss went to vote - after half a year of campaigning that, to a neutral bystander, must have looked like some kind of comedy circus. The results were, in my opinion, pretty decent - but that's not what I want to write about. I do want to point out a few of the  elements in the campaigns leading up to the elections that struck me as funny, interesting or sometimes downright ridiculous.

Fringe Parties

Under the Swiss political system, every citizen above the age of 18 is allowed to create a political party and have a spot on the ballot paper for national elections. The only prerequisite for a place on the ballot is that the prospective candidate has to gather between 200 and 400 (depending on the size of the state) signatures from Swiss citizens. This has led to very, uhm, colourful ballots over the years. This year's included fringe parties like The Anti PowerPoint Party (literally campaigning against the use of powerpoint in presentations), the Swiss Pirate Party (campaigning for internet freedom), the Auto Party (campaigning for a raise in speed limits) or the Animals' Party Switzerland (animal rights).


Right vs Left: online games and a kidnapped mascot

The two biggest parties in Switzerland, the Swiss People's Party (far right) and the Social Democrats (far left), have been known for using "interesting" campaigning tools. The right-wing party for example has been having a mascot since 2006 - goat Zottel. It has starred in pre-election online games (where its role was to expel illegal migrants from the country and prevent them from becoming Swiss citizens) and has had public appearances at party meetings and campaigning events. Last week, in the run-up to the elections, it has been kidnapped from its stable, which made big news not only in Switzerland but internationally (yeah, I know, it's great to be citizen of a country that makes the news with things like racist goats *sarcasm*). A left-wing group was blamed for it and a few days later, Zottel was found in downtown Zurich, spray-painted black and reportedly "very distraught".

While the fringe party members usually don't really stand a chance in securing a seat in parliament, it is a vital element for Swiss democracy (which is one of the most direct democracies worldwide) that every citizen has an easily accessible opportunity to express their views and run for parliament. While this sounds very democratic, fair and overall glorious, I have to say that I'm slightly depressed by the fact that a right-wing party that uses imbecile campaigning methods like a goat mascot (or posters that depict white sheep kicking black sheep out of Switzerland) still manages to be the most popular party in Switzerland (though with yesterday's election, their proportion of seats in parliament has sunken slightly).