LETTER FROM GENEVA

The photo on the left is marked by a large red cross as a sign of rejection. It shows a group of black men squatting, confined to a refugee center on the Italian island of Lampedusa, on the front line of the Mediterranean migration tragedy. In the image on the right, accompanied by a large green check of approval, three blond children and their fair-skinned parents sit in a soft green alpine meadow, with peaceful cows frolicking nearby. Below the two illustrations, this profession of faith, in large letters: "No to a Switzerland of 10 million inhabitants."

The Alpine country currently has a population of almost nine million, following two decades of strong demographic growth. Threatened by "uncontrolled immigration," Switzerland is said to be on the verge of losing both its soul and its legendary security. It also risks having to share its wealth with a growing number of foreign newcomers.

Featured in a "household mailer" – an election advertising brochure traditionally distributed to every private letterbox in the country – shortly before the federal elections on Sunday, October 22, the catchy slogan hit the nail on the head. Its creator, the Swiss People's Party (SVP, nationalist right), further strengthened its grip on the Swiss political landscape with 27.9% of the vote (+2.3 points compared to the 2019 elections), winning 61 seats (nine more) of MPs in the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss Parliament. Its main rival, the Swiss Socialist Party, which has made slight progress, is a distant second trailing by almost 10 points (18.3%).

The name of the SVP in its original language, German, gives a clearer idea of its orientation. "Schweizerische Volkspartei" translates more logically as "Swiss People's Party," which better reflects its ideological orientation: categorical rejection of rapprochement with the European Union (EU), sovereignism, obsession with immigration, and promotion of traditional family values.

The "foreign population" (a third of the population was born outside Switzerland, a figure which rises to 50% in the metropolitan areas of Geneva and Zurich) is blamed for all the (rare) problems of the country, whose economy is flourishing. Yet this group is largely made up of EU citizens who benefit from free movement and are easily recruited into an overheated job market that couldn't function without them. Foreign residents are also blamed for congested freeways and railroads, skyrocketing housing costs, "asylum chaos and Swiss children becoming a minority in schools," as the SVP's "household mailer" puts it.

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