Swiss Upheaval

Switzerland's nationalist-conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) contributed to the country’s growing political turmoil Thursday, Dec.13 by splitting into two and leaving the government for opposition after controversial SVP politician Christoph Blocher was denied re-election to the cabinet.

Blocher was ignored by both chambers of parliament in favor of his more moderate colleague Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in the cabinet vote on Wednesday while Defense Minister Samuel Schmid, also of the SVP, was likewise retained in the new Swiss Federal Council.

The nominations prompted the right wing faction of the SVP to split off in protest, rejecting the appointment of the two moderates and officially declaring its opposition.

The right-wing faction of the SVP was led by the outspoken Blocher, who has spearheaded the SVP's isolationist and anti-foreigner stance. The party as a whole won 29 percent of the vote in the October general election.

The SVP had campaigned in October on an anti-foreigner ticket illustrated by the now infamous poster of white sheep kicking out a black sheep. It promised a harder line on policies such as cooperation with Europe and on defense on which they had been silenced up till now due membership in the cabinet.

Blocher goes out fighting

Blocher made a bitter speech to parliament on Thursday, claiming that he had been deceived and that he did not understand the reasons behind the decision against him. "You will have to make do with a government where only three parties are represented plus two ministers without a party," he said.

"The deception is not that you have chosen someone else for the government but the way in which you have done it," Blocher said, and added that had no aim to quit politics as some may have hoped.

After the chambers of parliament voted for her, it was not immediately clear if Widmer-Schlumpf would take the post due to extreme pressure from the right-wing faction of the SVP to reject the seat after Wednesday’s decision against Blocher. Finally, early Thursday, she accepted stressing the "importance of tolerance." The SVP announcement followed soon after.

Nationalists taste the lash of intolerance

SVP president Casper Baader said during his announcement of the split that while Widmer-Schlumpf had been an SVP member for 30 years, she had views which differed widely from the party's. He also accused parliament of ignoring the wishes of voters.

His displeasure was echoed by SVP member Hans Fehr who told Swiss Radio: "We have said from the start if our two cabinet members were not re-elected we would put ourselves in opposition and that is what we have done. From now on, Samuel Schmidt and Madame Widmer-Schlumpf are no longer members of this faction and thus are no longer our representatives."

A country divided

The developments have thrown Swiss politics into new turmoil. Some claimed the cabinet elections were a victory for the left, namely the Socialists and the Greens, who had conspired to remove Blocher.

Others in the SVP itself defended the party's two ministers who they insisted had been elected as party members by the voters in their cantons and could not be ostracized.

Meanwhile some 1,500 people demonstrated outside parliament in Berne to celebrate Blocher's forced ouster from the cabinet.