Swiss Greens International: Left-green demolishes the right in Berne elections

Monday, April 10, 2006

Left-green demolishes the right in Berne elections

Historic victory for Social Democrats and Greens: They won the majority in the Berne state government elections and now hold four seats. Bernhard Pulver of the Green Free List managed to win the first seat for the Greens for 20 years, and win he did, ranking fourth (see below). The biggest (and well deserved) loser was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) who not only failed to win their 4th seat as they boldly set out to do, but actually also lost their 3rd seat. The same fate was shared by the Free Democrats (FDP) who also lost a seat. The strategy of the once grand party that built modern Switzerland to suck up to the People's Party was a total unmitigated failure, and they have to pay dearly for their blunder, becoming more and more irrelevant.

The right also lost the majority in the Great Council (parliament). Winners are again the Greens who increased their share of votes in the city of Berne from 8.5% to 17.5%. In the 160 seat parliament, the Greens now hold 19 seats (9.2%, +3.7 points), and form the 4th largest faction in the parliament after SVP (47), SP (42), and FDP (26).

New Berne State Council