Fear and isolation in a ‘divided land’

Swiss newspapers are focusing on the reasons for the expected shift to the right in Sunday’s federal elections – and what it means for the conservative right Swiss People’s Party’s claim to a second cabinet seat.  “The People’s Party sees a historic increase, the [centre-right] Radical Party a remarkable comeback,” wrote the Basler Zeitung.  Final results show the former increased its share of the vote from 26.6% in 2011 to 29.4% and the latter from 15.1% to 16.4%. Voter turnout was 48.4%. The Basler Zeitung said the centrist Christian Democratic Party now had to “seriously think about how it wants to spend the next ten years. … It will have to decide whether it wants to return to the centre-right camp or continue to act as the office assistant of the [left-wing] Social Democratic Party”.  The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) was not surprised by the gains achieved by the People’s Party and the Radical Party, which represent a “return to normality”.  “When voters think ...