A second ballot is needed for the St. Gallen government
Published: Sunday, Mar 3rd 2024, 19:40
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In the elections to renew the St. Gallen government on March 3, all five existing members were clearly re-elected. Two seats will only be allocated in the second round of voting on April 14. The SVP wants to win both seats.
When the final result was announced at 3.30 pm on Sunday afternoon in the Pfalzkeller, the outcome was more or less in line with expectations: All five previous members of the government were easily re-elected.
Construction boss Susanne Hartmann (center) took the top spot with 90,728 votes. In 2020, it was her party colleague Bruno Damann who received the most votes. Now the head of health ended up in last place of the five elected with 81,841 votes.
This result also came as no great surprise: the financial problems of the hospitals, which led to major job cuts, as well as the ongoing discussions about emergency care in Toggenburg, are likely to have had an impact on Damann's number of votes.
Marc Mächler and Beat Tinner (both FDP) and Laura Bucher from the SP were clearly re-elected. However, this means that two seats in the seven-member government are still vacant. The decision on the new composition will now be made on April 14.
Previously, the committee was made up of two members each from the FDP, the Center Party and the SP, as well as one representative from the SVP. Stefan Kölliker (SVP) and Fredy Fässler (SP) no longer stood for re-election. The SVP had long announced that, as the party with the most voters, it was entitled to a second seat.
SVP candidates in pole position
On Sunday, the two SVP candidates fought a neck-and-neck race behind the incumbents: Dana Zemp achieved 58,653 votes, 594 votes more than Christof Hartmann. However, both fell well short of the absolute majority of 73,182 votes.
Bettina Surber (SP), who wants to defend the SP's second seat, followed some way behind the SVP duo with 48,457 votes. Daniel Bosshard (Greens) was only just behind with 45,587 votes. A bigger surprise was the result of Sarah Bösch, who is not a party member, who received 39,522 votes, beating GLP candidate Sarah Noger-Engeler by 563 votes.
Who will run again? Both Zemp and Hartmann already announced to the Keystone-SDA news agency at the election center that they would remain in the race. With the seats won in parliament, there is no reason why the SVP should not be represented by two people in the government, said Zemp. The SVP is hoping for the support of the FDP and the center for the second round of voting.
Daniel Bosshard announced talks with the SP, among others, on Monday. The GLP wants to decide over the course of the week what the best strategy is for them. The SP will also provide information in the next few days. Sarah Bösch has already made up her mind: "Of course I will run again," she said.
©Keystone/SDA
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