Swiss voters have cast their ballots, vote counting is underway and first national exit polls will be known within the hour. Political analysts widely predict a swing to the right in the weekend parliamentary elections.

Swiss voters have cast their ballots, vote counting is underway and first national exit polls will be known within the hour. Political analysts widely predict a swing to the right in the weekend parliamentary elections.

There is the distinct possibility that the right-of-centre Swiss People’s Party, whose leading figure is the populist parliamentarian and millionaire businessman Christoph Blocher, could jump two positions and become the second strongest party behind the Social Democrats.

“In that case we will ask for a second cabinet seat,” party president Ueli Maurer has said.

But the two centrist parties that may be overtaken, the Christian Democrats and the Radical Party, have already signalled they will block such a move.

The People’s Party’s steep popularity curve – which could see it jump from 14.5 percent to 20 percent of the votes – is largely due to Blocher’s personality.

His home-base is mainly canton Zurich, where the successful but controversial businessman has managed to enlarge the party’s agriculture-based following to include many trade and business people.

Political analysts agree that, if Blocher was to run Swiss politics by himself, Switzerland’s political status quo would be maintained.

“I want to defend Switzerland’s sovereignty and neutrality,” Blocher has said again and again during a high-profile campaign that has seen dozens of radio and television appearances, public speeches and grassroots conferences.

Blocher is against Swiss membership of the United Nations and the European Union, and for stiff measures against “dishonest” asylum seekers and drug abusers.

Blocher’s policies have struck a cord with many Swiss as the country faces the pressures of increasing economic globalisation and as the nation tries to define its position in an increasingly complex European political landscape.

But even if the People’s Party should score the major gains predicted by the recent polls, there will be no political earthquake in Switzerland.

In fact, the stability of the past 40 years – as many analysts would argue – is based on the very fact that Switzerland avoids the kind of radical government ousters seen in neighbouring states.

Executive power in the Swiss government is shared among the four biggest parties, which get their one or two cabinet seats according to the “magic formula” – an unwritten agreement that has been in effect since 1959.

The magic formula will not be ditched, as all major parties have made clear and as Swiss voters know full well.

Voter enthusiasm is therefore rather low, to say the least. And as Swiss cabinet ministers in general only resign for age or health reasons, most voters know that politics will largely go on as before.

What Swiss voters also know, though, is that the weekend vote will not change their own power: Swiss voters will again go to the polls several times next year to decide with their own ballot whether they agree with the government’s and parliament’s decisions or not.

From staff and wire reports.

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