2023-11-20 04:30:00
The economic canton of Zurich will now be represented in the Council of States by a Social Democrat and a Green Liberal. For the liberals, this is a low point that could bring about a turning point.
Will not be the new Zurich Council of States: Gregor Rutz (SVP).
Representing the Zurich stand in Bern: Tiana Angelina Moser (GLP).
Pictures Annick Ramp / NZZ
On Sunday, what had become apparent happened: the majority of Zurich voters would rather see a Green Liberal in the Council of States than a representative of the anti-free movement party SVP. The SP candidate Daniel Jositsch made it in the first round of voting, Tiana Angelina Moser from the GLP triumphed in the second. Moser received 206,493 votes, Rutz 159,328. The FDP had nobly withdrawn after the first round of voting, but the SVP was unable to mobilize much more than his circle of sympathizers with the hardliner Rutz. The left and center mobilized for Moser.
The result is not only bitter for the SVP, which also lost the Council of States elections in Schaffhausen, Aargau and Solothurn this Sunday. The FDP is also hit hard. She is the real loser of the general election in 2023. The debacle in Zurich is representative of the current weakness of the Liberals.
The gradual loss of power of the liberals became apparent in Zurich
A look back at October 22nd shows how much a party of founders and pioneers became a party of driven people. With a bang, the FDP Switzerland managed to place itself just a few tenths of a point ahead of the middle. This is why it officially ranks fourth in the party rankings, even though it has more seats in the federal parliament than the FDP.
The Liberals’ loss of power did not come suddenly, but gradually. This is clearly evident in the former stronghold of Zurich: as recently as 1991, the party captured 18.7 percent here. In 2015 it was 15.3, this year it is only 12.4 percent. The proportion of voters in the city of Zurich is even lower. In District 6, once a bastion of liberalism, the party still had 11 percent on October 23rd.
Parties and business associations misjudged themselves
The FDP Zurich knew that it had done poorly. In a communiqué on election Sunday, she appeared contrite. The results in the former strongholds in the districts to the left and right of Lake Zurich are particularly disappointing. However, the party was highly satisfied with the performance of its own Council of States candidate Regine Sauter. She was congratulated on the “very good result,” which indicated “broad support.”
A day later, Regine Sauter, the long-time director of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce, was no longer a candidate, and party president Hans-Jakob Boesch said: “The business associations entered the negotiations after the first round of voting with the statement that they only supported the SVP candidate Gregor Rutz because they considered his chances to be better. Then Regine Sauter decided to withdraw.” With 120,571 votes, Sauter was 35,000 votes behind Rutz, who had 154,910. Tiana Angelina Moser received 105,604 votes, 15,000 fewer than Sauter.
Second ballots have their own dynamics. In any case, what according to the planning should never have happened happened: Rutz did not mobilize beyond his circle of bourgeois sympathizers, and Tiana Angelina Moser got all the votes of those who preferred to vote for the half-left than the SVP. This also includes the center and the FDP women, who decided to allow voting.
For the two bourgeois parties, the outcome of the Zurich elections is a debacle. While the SVP can at least console itself with the fact that it has improved its overall result at the national level compared to 2019, the FDP Switzerland not only lost percentages of voters, but also seats in both chambers.
This is bitter, especially for party leader Thierry Burkart, who was elected as a beacon of hope two years ago. He wanted to turn a disunited party into a united one, clarify the relationship with the SVP and overtake the SP. The result: Under his leadership, the party achieved an even worse result than under his predecessor Petra Gössi, and the relationship with the SVP is as unclear as that with the GLP and the center.
Unlike Green Party leader Balthasar Glättli, who will resign after his party’s election losses, Burkart feels no pressure. His party knows that he is only at the beginning of a major task. A turnaround was not expected in two years; In times of crisis, political parties benefit because they promise simple solutions.
Debacle as an opportunity?
Seen this way, the Zurich debacle is also an opportunity. Especially since it had become apparent and the breaking points were known: the Zurich cantonal party only narrowly agreed to the question of whether the FDP should enter into a list alliance with the SVP. Sometimes the Zurich city party was skeptical, sometimes it was the women. The FDP now has four years to sharpen its political profile and clarify its relationship with political competition.
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