Switzerland's Green Party made historic gains in national elections Sunday, while the anti-immigrant right wing was on track to remain the largest party in parliament despite a slip in its support. Ballots were still being counted in the wealthy Alpine nation, but projections released by national broadcaster RTS confirmed the "green wave" forecast before the vote. "We have clearly beat our expectations," Green Party vice president Lisa Mazzone told RTS.
"We are tremendously pleased that the mobilisation we saw on the streets has translated into votes. We are heading towards a historic score," she added. The Greens garnered 13 percent support, exceeding their pre-election projection. It marked a six-point bump on their 2015 performance, according the projection by RTS, political research firm Gfs Bern and national press agency ATS. The Green Liberals - an environmentalist party with libertarian socio-economic policies - also gained ground, taking 7.6 percent of the vote compared to less than five percent in 2015.
Surveys before the election suggested that climate change had displaced migration as the top concern among the electorate, in what the Sotomo political research institute described as one of the most significant shifts in recent Swiss political history. The Swiss People's Party (SVP), which has repeatedly been accused of demonising migrants, claimed 25.6 percent of the vote, according to the RTS projection. But that is down from the 29 percent it garnered in 2015.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019
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