Economic and agricultural circles are attacking 2023 hand in hand. As their alliance has borne fruit during the last votes, they intend to perpetuate it for the federal elections scheduled for this fall. They officially launched their campaign on Friday in Bern.
Gathered on the Federal Square in Bern on Epiphany Day, the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts (USAM), Swiss Economies, the Swiss Employers’ Union and the Swiss Peasants’ Union (USP) presented their campaign for federal elections in October, which will have as its slogan “prospects, rather than daydreams”.
All intend “to reinforce the importance of the economy and agriculture for society in public debates”. These heavyweights of the economy recalled that Swiss businesses and agriculture employ more than 4.5 million people in more than 600,000 businesses in the country, and contribute up to 145 billion per year to social insurance and participate in “the security and stability of the country”, according to a joint press release.
Objectives of this alliance
The umbrella organizations do not quantify the electoral objectives of their alliance. But in their eyes, today, the Parliament adopts a policy more and more hostile to the economy and to agriculture, which weakens Switzerland. They want to change the situation.
This strategic partnership bore fruit for the votes last fall. Thus, as the umbrella organizations wished, the reform of old-age insurance was adopted and the initiative once morest intensive farming rejected.
But the peasant world and the bosses also have differences, starting with free trade agreements.
Marielle Savoy