One in five newly elected people is a farmer: the bourgeois farmers’ lobby is expanding its power

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There are fewer and fewer farmers in the country. However, as of this Sunday, they are more powerful in the federal parliament than they have been in a long time: eleven of the fifty newly elected national council members are farmers. This means that there are now 25 farmers in the National Council and the Council of States. Ten more than before.

If you also include qualified agronomists, former farmers and anyone representing an agricultural organization, the farmers’ lobby grows to almost forty parliamentarians. More than one in seven people in parliament are close to farmers. And yet less than three percent of the working population works in agriculture.

Peasant Power SVP

Urs Schneider (64), campaign leader at the Swiss farmers’ association, cannot yet fully understand the meaning of these figures. ‘It’s actually crazy’, it’s ‘almost unbelievable’.

The strengthening of the farmers’ lobby is mainly due to the election victory of the SVP. Ten of the eleven newly elected farmers belong to the right-wing party. There are also some centrist farmers – including chairman of the farmers’ association Markus Ritter (56) – and a few Greens.

The cooperation of the farmers with the business associations – there was also talk of the ‘money and manure’ alliance – has apparently paid off for the former. Schneider, who led the joint campaign, also sees it this way. He attributes the success mainly to the mobilization. Voter turnout has increased in many rural communities. This year, for the first time, the farmers’ association raised money for the election campaign itself and did not simply leave it to the cantonal associations. “Past voting successes have motivated us to become more active in elections,” says Schneider.

Not everyone welcome

The farmers’ lobby in parliament is organized through the Conference of Farmers’ Parliamentarians. Invitations will be sent to those chosen in the coming days, Schneider said.

However, not everyone who wants an invitation doesn’t get one. Chairman of the farmers’ association Markus Ritter indicated to the Tages-Anzeiger that the Green National Councilor and organic farmer Kilian Baumann (42) could be excluded. They want to punish him for daring to support pesticide initiatives, for example.

Baumann accuses Ritter of using intimidation tactics. The most important thing for him is to show the newly elected “who’s boss here,” he continues

Opposition to the austerity program

Because the next delicate agricultural discussions are coming. On the one hand, there is still a possible counter-proposal to the biodiversity initiative on the table in parliament. On the other hand, the Federal Council wants to put the red pencil on agriculture. The government wants to cut the agricultural budget for 2024 by 74 million – equivalent to two percent. The aim is to save even more in the medium term. The farmers’ association has already announced opposition to the austerity plans.

Source:Blick