The second round of the Council of States election divides the Schaffhausen FDP
Published: Sunday, Nov 12th 2023, 09:20
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In Schaffhausen, the second round of the Council of States elections on November 19 will see a duel between incumbent Thomas Minder (non-party) and challenger Simon Stocker (SP). In the Schaffhausen FDP, the withdrawal of its own candidate after the first round of voting caused quite a row.
Thomas Minder, the author of the rip-off initiative, will have to stand for a second round of voting for the first time since his election to the Council of States in 2011. In the first round of voting, he not only finished behind his fellow Councillor of States Hannes Germann (SVP), who was re-elected at the first attempt, but also behind the SP candidate and former Schaffhausen city councillor Simon Stocker.
It is therefore quite conceivable that the 62-year-old entrepreneur could lose his seat. After the first round of voting, a united camp of the left-green parties and the GLP quickly formed around the 42-year-old Stocker. The center decided to abstain from voting.
FDP candidate had to withdraw
For the conservative parties SVP and FDP, on the other hand, the search for a common strategy for the second round of voting proved more difficult - and plunged the FDP into a deep crisis.
It was expected in Schaffhausen that there could be a second round of voting. What was surprising, however, was that Minder not only fell short of the absolute majority, but also received fewer votes than the SP candidate.
FDP candidate Nina Schärrer, who received around half as many votes as Minder, announced her intention to run again on the afternoon of the first ballot. The president of the cantonal party immediately expressed his support for her.
Three days later - after talks between the party leaders of the FDP and SVP - the 36-year-old suddenly withdrew her candidacy. She made no secret of the fact that her withdrawal was not voluntary and that she would have liked to run again.
The mantra of the "undivided voice"
Since then, the SVP and FDP have been repeating the mantra of the "undivided vote" - Minder must now be supported in order to prevent SP man Stocker from being elected. In fact, Minder, who is a member of the SVP parliamentary group in the Council of States, often votes the same way as SVP Councillor of States Hannes Germann.
However, Minder does not enjoy much sympathy in the FDP, as well as in parts of the SVP. The FDP, which lost its seat in the Council of States to him in 2011, attacked the businessman with its own candidates in the 2015 and 2019 elections. Now the party is suddenly recommending Minder for election, after literally sawing off its own candidate.
Head shaking and indignation at the FDP
This caused a lot of head-shaking and indignation within the FDP. The displeasure was vented at an extraordinary party meeting. What exactly happened there is not publicly known, as members of the media were excluded.
However, it is clear that the support for Minder requested by the FDP board received a majority. This caused a stir in the letters columns of the "Schaffhauser Nachrichten" newspaper.
Some Liberals continued to call for the election of Nina Schärrer, while others even set up a "liberal committee" to support SP candidate Stocker. Still others, true to the party line, campaigned for Minder with the "undivided state vote".
Against the backdrop of a united left and a divided middle-class camp, the race for the second seat in the Council of States appears to be wide open. If Stocker is elected, the Schaffhausen Social Democrats would be represented in the Council of States for the first time since Esther Bührer stepped down in 1991.
©Keystone/SDA
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