Anti-immigration party projected to win Swiss vote

The anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP) won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday's national parliamentary elections, projections showed, keeping pressure on Bern to introduce quotas on people moving from the European Union.

Success for the Swiss People's Party (SVP), coupled with gains made by the pro-business Liberal Party (FDP), led political commentators to talk of a Rechtsrutsch — a "slide to the right" — in Swiss politics.

Immigration was the central topic for voters amid a rush of asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe.

"The vote was clear," SVP leader Toni Brunner told Swiss television. "The people are worried about mass migration to Europe."

Sunday's result cements the SVP's position as the dominant force in Swiss politics.

The SVP won 29.5 percent of the vote, according to projections from Swiss broadcaster SRF, up from 26.6 percent in the 2011 vote and far exceeding expectations.

This would translate into an extra 11 seats, bringing its total in the 200-member lower house to 65, the best result for any party in at least a century.

Although not a member of the EU, Switzerland has, like many European countries, seen anti-immigrant and ethnocentric sentiments climb in recent years, and the election gains for the SVP, already Switzerland's biggest single party, come 20 months after the Swiss in a referendum backed limits on foreigners living in the Alpine nation. The SVP strongly supported the restrictions.

Lawmakers have until 2017 to reconcile this referendum result with the EU pact that guarantees the free movement of workers, otherwise the Swiss government must write quotas into law, regardless of any compromise with the EU.

The Swiss system of direct democracy means citizens decide most major issues in referendums, regardless of parliament's makeup.

But the latest right-wing gains should keep pressure on Bern to take a hard line with Brussels as it seeks to implement the immigration referendum.

The left-leaning Social Democrats finished in second place. Their share of the vote rose 0.2 percentage points, to 18.9 percent, but they were set to lose two seats, according to the SRF projections.

The FDP, Switzerland's third-largest party, saw its support edge up 1.2 points and will gain three seats, tilting parliament further to the right.

During the election campaign, the SVP rallied against Swiss reforms to deal with asylum seekers, even though in Europe's current refugee crisis, Switzerland is having to handle far fewer refugees than some other nations, such as Germany.

Sunday's results prompted calls from the right for greater representation in Switzerland's seven-member governing council, the composition of which will be decided in December by parliament. The SVP and FDP currently have one seat each.

Al Jazeera with Reuters