MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Following the vote, the new parliament will elect a seven-person government on December 9.
The vote to fill the two legislative chambers — the 200-seat National Council and 46-member Council of States — comes as Europe is facing a massive influx of migrants from crisis-hit Middle East and African countries.
Even though Switzerland, which is not an EU member state, does not bear the major brunt of the refugee crisis, the last poll from the gfs.bern polling institute showed almost half of respondents named migration as the most important issue the country faces.
Opinion Polls
According to the recent gfs.bern opinion poll, Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is poised to win the elections and expected to gain about 28 percent of the votes, an almost two-percent increase in its 2011 performance.
The SVP is followed by the Social Democrats (SP) with 19.2 percent and the Free Democrats with (FDP) 16.7 percent.
EU Refugee Crisis
Some 12,000 people sought asylum in Switzerland in the first half of 2015. In September, the country agreed to take in 1,500 migrants under the EU program for redistribution of 40,000 refugees, despite the fact the country is not an EU member state, but part of the Schengen and Dublin agreements.
The growth in the SVP’s popularity is mainly attributed to its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Alfred Heer from the SVP told Sputnik that people fleeing to Europe from war zones in the Middle East should be sent to the United States instead, as it is Washington that was responsible for the chaos in the region.
Meanwhile, Luc Recordon from the Green Party that is expected to get about eight percent of the votes told Sputnik that Switzerland was capable of receiving additional refugees due to its economic well-being. He pointed out that Switzerland had a rather old population, so it could benefit from an influx of young people to "balance our society and our economy."
Doris Fiala, a Swiss lawmaker from the FDP, told Sputnik that Switzerland was keeping the immigration issue under control.
"Most important is that we share the burden in Europe. No country can handle this without help and solidarity from other countries. In Switzerland… so far, the situation is under control," Fiala said.
Migration From the EU
The migration dominates the election agenda also in the context of caps on foreigners coming to Switzerland, including from the European Union.
In 2014, 50.4 percent of the Swiss population voted to introduce quotas on migrants entering from the European Union. The move was highly criticized in Brussels and soured the relations with the European Union.
"On one side we have bilateral contracts, and on the other side we have this wish of the population to reduce the foreigners a little bit," Fiala told Sputnik, explaining the political split in the country on the issue.
Recordon called on Bern to find a way to modify or cancel immigration curbs for those entering from the European Union in order to restore friendly ties with the bloc.
"This is the main issue, it has to be cancelled or we have to find a very smooth solution that the EU can accept," Recordon said.
Swiss People’s Party has been firm in terms of imposing curbs on the EU immigrants, and Alfred Heer stressed that Switzerland must preserve its independence from the European Union "because you see that the EU is not working." He said also that Bern should not cave in to the interests of Brussels.
Economy
In terms of economy, a strong Swiss franc, has been the hotly debated issue ahead of the elections.
In January, it soared after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced it would no longer hold the franc at a fixed exchange rate with the euro.
Many fear the negative effect of the strong currency on the country’s exports that turn out more expensive for the purchasers outside Switzerland.
Luc Recordon stressed the damage of a high national currency on the country’s export-oriented economy.
"It is clearly not a good thing to have very strong money, especially for a country like Switzerland, that exports very much," Recordon said, adding that the Swiss economy "has really suffered [from] the high prices of Swiss goods."
Yet, Alfred Heer believes a strong national currency was always an advantage to the economy, making imports to Switzerland cheaper.
