Four years after the women’s strike: the women’s bonus has disappeared

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Four years ago, the Greens achieved what no party had ever achieved before: they won six percentage points. At the same time, the share of women suddenly increased from 32 to 42 percent. In this year’s elections, party politics will probably return to normal, with shifts of a few percentage points. But what happens to the share of women?

If the predictions are correct – wins for the SVP, losses for the Greens – this will have consequences for the representation of women. The SVP has the fewest female politicians on its electoral lists, while women make up more than half of all Green Party candidates. This is what an evaluation by Helvetia requires! for the National Council elections. The non-partisan movement advocates for more women in politics and has evaluated the main lists of all parties represented in parliament.

The women’s strike four years ago also contributed to the high proportion of women in the National Council. Kathrin Bertschy (44), co-initiator of Helvetia Calls!, says: “Many voters explicitly voted for women last time.” Nowadays the focus would be more on the war in Ukraine or the economic situation. In other words: the women’s bonus is gone.

Nevertheless, GLP National Councilor Bertschy assumes that the number of female National Councilors will remain approximately the same. “This year, more women are participating than before, which will increase their chances of being elected.” In addition, some parties have made progress with the electoral lists. “In addition to the Greens, SP and GLP, the center party now runs almost everywhere with balanced lists,” says Bertschy. The same applies to various parts of the FDP.

Not everyone has done their homework

According to Helvetia’s evaluation, all parties are paying attention! The SP (55 percent women) and the Greens (53 percent) are most concerned about equal election opportunities for women and men. This is followed by GLP (49 percent) and Mitte (43 percent). In the FDP the share of women is 41 percent, in the SVP it is 25 percent.

Bertschy believes that many cantonal parties have not done their homework on the last two: “Individual sections are very sensitive. But in many places, men’s groups in the FDP and SVP have had the upper hand when it comes to list-making.

Bertschy means sections like the FDP Lucerne, which currently has a National Council – and on whose electoral list only a woman is in third place. The chairman of the FDP Lucerne, Jacqueline Theiler, sees no problem with this. “We make our lists in alphabetical order,” she says. “This means that everyone has the same opportunities – as a Liberal party we do not give preference to women or men.”

Vote for women!

Theiler goes on to say that they would have liked to have a few more women on the list. However, recruiting such people has proven difficult. Moreover, the president adds: “Ultimately it is the voter who decides.”

Bertschy sees it the same way. Helvetia is calling! therefore plans to make an appeal to voters. The message: Vote for women! Because, says Bertschy: “Switzerland will become more democratic if the parliament better reflects the population.”

Source:Blick