Geneva : The Swiss voted for a new parliament, with initial projections showing the populist right strengthening its already dominant position amid concerns over migration and asylum rules. Polling stations closed at noon (1000 GMT) after only a few hours, as most Swiss vote in advance by post or online. Early projections from some of Switzerland’s 26 cantons hinted that the country’s largest party, the populist right-wing anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP), had made gains and could possibly tip the scale in parliament towards a slight centre-right majority.
The expected shift comes as surging numbers of migrants and refugees moving through Europe have heightened the focus on the issue in Switzerland, even though the wealthy Alpine nation has yet to be significantly affected by the crisis. About a quarter of Switzerland’s eight million inhabitants are foreign nationals, and immigration and asylum policies tend to figure among voters’ top concerns.