Rightwing Svp Tightens Grip in Swiss Election

Switzerland's right wing People's party, accused of racism and fanning Islamophobia, strengthened its position as the country's leading political force yesterday, gaining more than 2 percentage points to win a general election for the second time in a row, according to projections.

Led by the populist industrialist Christoph Blocher, the People's party, or SVP, was projected to have taken almost 29% of the vote, securing six more seats in parliament and two seats in the seven-strong cabinet that is always a coalition of the four strongest parties.

In a country where the glaciers are melting and concern about global warming is intense, the other big winner yesterday was the Green party which took 10% of the vote, according to the projections

For one of the oldest and most stable democracies in the world, the election campaign was unusually divisive because of Mr Blocher's contempt for traditional Swiss consensus and his breaking of taboos. The main opposition social democrats were the losers yesterday, after making the mistake of allowing Mr Blocher to dominate by calling for him to be kicked out of the cabinet whatever the result.

Mr Blocher is the justice minister in the outgoing federal cabinet and is expected to keep his place when a new government is appointed in December.

Yesterday's results illustrated two central points - that the SVP has probably peaked and is unlikely to increase its support after adding around a percentage point compared with 2003, but also that by winning its second election in a row, it has confirmed itself as the leading force in Switzerland and confounded opponents who had hoped that its performance in 2003 was a one-off.