Elections at cantonal level promise excitement
Published: Sunday, Mar 3rd 2024, 04:50
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The first cantonal elections since the National Council and Council of States elections in October will take place on Sunday. Governments and cantonal parliaments will be renewed in St. Gallen, Uri and Schwyz. By-elections will be held in Basel-Stadt and Obwalden.
Following the election of Beat Jans (SP) to the Federal Council, by-elections are being held in Basel-Stadt to fill the vacant seat on the cantonal council. The presidency of the cantonal government also needs to be filled. The Basel SP is sending former National Councillor Mustafa Atici into the race. If elected, the man of Kurdish origin would be the first Basel councillor with a migration background.
The Greens have nominated 41-year-old Jérôme Thiriet, Member of Parliament and Managing Director of the Basel Courier Center. For the FDP, 37-year-old Councillor Luca Urgese is standing for election. With the support of the LDP, the Center Party and the SVP, he aims to regain a middle-class majority in the government after 20 years.
The electorate will also decide on a separate ballot paper who will take over the presidency of the government from Beat Jans. Atici and Thiriet are also running for this office. Conradin Cramer, the incumbent Director of Education, is standing for the LDP. If he is elected, the presidency would be in the hands of the middle class for the first time.
SVP wants second seat
In the canton of St. Gallen, the SVP wants to wrest the second seat in the government from the SP in the general elections. Until now, the government council has been made up of two members each from the FDP, the Center Party and the SP, as well as one representative from the SVP. Both Stefan Kölliker (SVP) and Fredy Fässler (SP) are no longer standing.
However, the SVP has often had a difficult time in elections to the executive. The party with the most voters in the canton is sending cantonal doctor Danuta Zemp, who only recently joined the party, and cantonal councillor and former President of the Finance Commission, Christof Hartmann, into the race.
The SP has nominated Bettina Surber, long-time parliamentary group leader in the cantonal council, in addition to the current member of the cantonal government Laura Bucher. Other candidates come from the Greens and the Green Liberals, as well as two individual candidates and a candidate from a representative of the "Aufrecht" group. No significant shifts are expected in the cantonal council, which is dominated by the middle classes.
SP attempts comeback
In the canton of Schwyz, the SP is doing everything it can to win back the seat in the government it lost twelve years ago with Jonathan Prelicz as President of the Cantonal Council. This is unlikely to be an easy task, as all seven previous members of the cantonal government are standing again. In addition to the SP, the incumbents are also being challenged by independent farmer Peter Abegg. The 100-member cantonal parliament will also be newly elected.
In the general election in the canton of Uri, twelve candidates are running for seven government seats. Two of these will be vacant. After a four-year absence, women could once again make the leap into government. The Centre Party has nominated Céline Huber, the FDP Petra Muheim and the GLP Luzia Gisler.
In addition to one other candidate each from the center, the FDP and the SVP, the independent Sämi Gisler is also running. Five incumbents are running for re-election. The 64 councillors will also be newly elected.
In Obwalden, the general elections for the cantonal court are being held at the same time. There are eight seats to be filled. Ten nominations have been received
©Keystone/SDA
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