On October 22, 2023, the Swiss people voted for their council of states and national parliament representatives. Before we go into the details of the results, here is a quick overview of the Swiss political system.
Switzerland became a federal state in 1848 and since then it has grown to include 26 cantons divided into over 2,300 communes. It is governed under a federal system at three levels: the confederation (a national body), the cantons and the communes.
The Federal Council is a national, seven-member collegial body whose decisions are made by consensus. It is consists of the four most popular parties: the SVP (Swiss People’s Party), the SP (Socialist Democratic Party), the Centre (an alliance of the Christian Democrat People’s Party and the Conservative Democratic Party) and the FDP (the Liberal Party).
Federal councillors are elected by the United Federal Assembly, which consists of an upper and a lower chamber. The National Council (or Parliament) is the lower house and represents the people. The Council of States is the upper house and represents the cantons.
In the parliament a political shift has taken place to the right, with the SVP gaining 9 seats (62 total); the SP gaining 2 seats (41); the Centre gaining 1 seat (29); FDP losing 1 seat (28); Greens losing 5 seats (23) and the GLP losing 6 seats (10).
Lucerne went for stability by re-electing the incumbent candidates Andrea Gmür (McENTRE) and Damian Müller (FDP) to represent the canton at the Council of States.
In the national parliament the following local candidates were voted in:
FDP: Peter Schilliger. Grüne: Michael Töngi. SVP: Vroni Thalmann-Bieri, Franz Grüter. SP: David Roth, Hasan Candan.
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