St. Gallen SVP wants a second government seat
Published: Sunday, Feb 11th 2024, 09:40
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The SVP wants to wrest the second seat from the SP in the St. Gallen government renewal elections. No significant shifts are expected in the cantonal council, where the FDP, SVP and centrists hold sway.
The biggest surprise in the otherwise dull election campaign came when the SVP nominated its candidates for the government: instead of a long-standing cantonal councillor as expected, the assembly opted for former cantonal doctor Danuta Zemp, who had only recently joined the party.
In addition to Zemp, the party also fielded Cantonal Councillor and former Chairman of the Finance Commission, Christof Hartmann. The investment client advisor was acquitted of charges of abuse of office by the Werdenberg-Sarganserland district court in January in a decision that is not legally binding. As a former municipal councillor in Walenstadt, he had been charged in connection with a dispute between neighbors.
Five incumbents are running again
Until now, the seven-member St. Gallen government 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 SVP government councillor Stefan Kölliker and Fredy Fässler from the SP are no longer standing.
The SVP's declared goal is a second seat in government at the expense of the SP. In elections to the executive, however, the party with the most voters has often had a difficult time in the past. The SP has now nominated Bettina Surber, long-standing parliamentary group leader in the cantonal council, alongside the current member of the cantonal government Laura Bucher. The lawyer is counting on a second ballot and is hoping for votes from the cities and larger conurbations.
Other candidates come from the Greens and the Green Liberals. There are also two individual candidates and a representative of the "Aufrecht" group. In total, there are 13 candidates. Given this starting position, the five current members of government are likely to be re-elected. It remains to be seen whether the criticism of hospital policy will have an impact on the result of health chief Bruno Damann (center).
In step with the National Council elections
In the conservative canton of St. Gallen, there has always been a clear division in the cantonal council. Until the "climate election" in 2020, the FDP and SVP held the majority of the 120 seats - since then, they have barely held on.
However, the shifts hardly had any effect because the center-EPP parliamentary group voted with the two right-wing parties on important proposals. As a rule, the voting results on controversial issues are in the ratio of around 80 votes against the approximately 30 votes of the SP, Greens and - depending on the issue - GLP.
A look at previous elections shows that the trend from the National Council elections also has an impact on the St. Gallen cantonal parliament. If this is also the case on March 3, the SVP could gain seats, while the Greens and Green Liberals are more likely to lose seats. The SVP currently has 35 seats, the Center Party has 27, the FDP 22, the SP 19, the Greens have 9, the GLP has 6 and the EPP 2 seats.
©Keystone/SDA
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